Tuesday April 23rd, 2024
Please join our executive director Elizabeth Bridgewater alongside a panel of local leaders and partners in this important discussion. This will take place on Wednesday at the Brooks Memorial Library.JOIN US TOMORROW!
Vermont Independent Media invites you to join our Voices Live: Conversation on Homelessness.
When: Wednesday, April 24. Program starts promptly at 6:30pm
Where: Brooks Memorial Library. 224 Main St, Brattleboro.
Panelists:
Michael Pieciak, Vermont State Treasurer.
Anne N. Sosin, Public Health Researcher and Practitioner at Dartmouth College.
Elizabeth Bridgewater, Executive Director, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust.
Libby Bennett, Executive Director, Groundworks Collaborative.
Chloe Learey, Executive Director, Winston Prouty Center
Moderated by Joyce Marcel.
Organizers of the forum anticipate including one or more participants who have or are experiencing homelessness.
You are welcome to join us for light refreshments at 6 pm.
If you can not join us in person, you can watch live on Comcast
channel 1078, or on BCTV’s YouTube Channel and Facebook Page.
YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhN1EgLZ0Cs
Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/1720418671817713/
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Monday April 22nd, 2024
Happy earth day! 🌎 remember to grab a green trash bag from your town and join in Green Up Day on May 4th!
🍅Windsor Village community garden
👋staff and board participating in Chalet Invasive Species Clean Up day
🌸218 Elliot Street spring blooms
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Monday April 22nd, 2024
"Every April, communities and housing organizations across this country recognize Fair Housing Month, commemorating the 1968 passage of the landmark civil rights law, which outlawed discriminatory housing practices. Yet, despite nearly six decades of fair housing efforts and advocacy, people of color continue to face challenges in realizing the American dream of homeownership.
Our country has a deep history of systemic racial discrimination in the housing industry. This discrimination, once legal and widely accepted, has created entrenched patterns of segregation in our communities and very effectively excluded whole populations of color from accumulating wealth through homeownership, something white families have benefited from across multiple generations.
The fact is, Vermont remains one of the least diverse states in the nation and has one of the highest homeownership gaps between BIPOC and white residents in the country. The policies and practices that created this inequity were intentional. This calls for an equally intentional response."
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Read Elizabeth's full letter in the Digger!
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Saturday April 20th, 2024
It's not often we get our Windsor SASH team and our Brattleboro area SASH For All team in one place! Grateful to have this support for our residents through these dedicated team members. This group of folks helps over 150 people maintain healthy and stable homes.
Missing from the photo are our SASH For All Wellness Nurse and our SASH For All Social Emotional Wellness Clinician. SASH stands for Support And Services at Home. Our SASH staff are on site at both Windsor properties (Union Square and Windsor Village as well as serving community members) and our Brattleboro area properties.
SASH Vermont
#sash #sashsaturdays
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Friday April 19th, 2024
Letter from the Director: BIPOC Homeownership Matters, Fair Housing Month
Every April, communities and housing organizations across this country recognize Fair Housing Month, commemorating the 1968 passage of the landmark civil rights law which outlawed discriminatory housing practices. Yet, despite nearly six decades of fair housing efforts and advocacy, people of color continue to face challenges in realizing the American dream of homeownership.
Our country has a deep history of systemic racial discrimination in the housing industry. This discrimination, once both legal and widely accepted, has created entrenched patterns of segregation in our communities and very effectively excluded whole populations of color from accumulating wealth through homeownership, something that white families have benefited from across multiple generations.
The fact is, Vermont remains one of the least diverse states in the nation and has one of the highest homeownership gaps between BIPOC and white residents in the country. The policies and practices that created this inequity were intentional. This calls for an equally intentional response.
Here in Vermont, there are some positive things happening to address this disparity and change the experience for BIPOC homebuyers.
-A BIPOC Financial Empowerment Program piloted here in Brattleboro has received funding from the M&T Charitable Foundation and has expanded into the state to provide Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) with the knowledge, tools, resources and coaching to support your financial wellbeing. The program offers free trauma-informed and culturally relevant financial education through monthly workshops on various financial topics, a supportive affinity group setting and 1:1 coaching to help you achieve your goals.
-This month, our colleagues at the Champlain Housing Trust announced the statewide expansion of their Homeownership Equity Program, a special purpose credit program, offering down payment assistance to BIPOC Shared Equity buyers. As a Shared Equity Provider, WWHT will have access to this funding for BIPOC home buyers in our community.
-The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston is opening Lift Up a new Special Purpose Credit Program designated for BIPOC homebuyers. The program provides $50,000 in down-payment and closing-cost assistance towards the purchase of their first home. The program is available through member banks of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.
-The Vermont Housing Finance Agency is continuing their First-Generation Homebuyer program which is a $15,000 grant towards a home purchase targeting populations that have been historically excluded from homeownership.
Home is where the heart is, and home is where the wealth is, too. By empowering prospective BIPOC homebuyers with financial counseling and homebuyer education resources, access to capital and credit, and a more equitable playing field in the public policy arenas, we are building greater homeownership opportunities – and wealth – for people of color for generations to come.
#homeownership #FairHousingMonth #equity #downpaymentassistance
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