The Vital Communities Housing Solutions Breakfast took place Friday, June 11, 7:30 to 9 am, on Zoom.
This productive, inspiring, informative event offered one main “takeaway”: Home creation is something we can all be part of; there is a piece of the puzzle for each of us to work on.
Participants learned about five creative solutions that we can adapt to our communities, and we looked at the big picture Keys to the Valley framework of how all of our efforts can align.
Projects and presenters were:
- Accessory dwelling units (ADU) partnership – Tyler Maas, VT State Housing Authority: ADUs are a great way for residents to create more places to live. This pilot project provides help with pre-construction design and securing of finances, permitting and compliance, contractor procurement and project management, and finally, tenant selection and lease up procedures.
- Homeshare – Deanna Jones, Thompson Senior Center, Woodstock, VT: Homesharing is two or more unrelated persons sharing a home. It can be that simple, and it can meet a lot of our individual needs.
- Mixed-Use Zoning -Lori Hirshfield and Matt Osborn, Hartford, VT: Mixed-use will allow one- and two-family homes, commercial businesses and multi-unit homes in places that have been limited to parking and stores.
- Capital for Affordability – Nancy Owens, Evernorth: Our region has places with the water, sewer, and transportation for multi-unit buildings. With some additional “patient” capital from employers, builders are able to create places affordable to employees with lower incomes.
- Rental Rehabilitation – Paul Martorano, Windham and Windsor Housing Trust: The Re-Housing Recovery Program offered grants up to $30,000 per unit for repairs needed to bring vacant rental units up to Vermont Rental Housing Health Code guidelines. More than 60 units were added in our communities in just a few months.
- Keys to the Valley – Kevin Geiger, Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
View the slide deck.