By Auditi GuhaApril 15, 2024, 6:02 pm
VTDigger- A program in northwest Vermont that helps people from marginalized communities with down payments on their first homes is expanding statewide.
The program was first launched two years ago by the Champlain Housing Trust to assist Vermonters who are BIPOC — Black, Indigenous and people of color — with down payments on their first homes in northwestern Vermont, said Michael Monte, the trust’s CEO.
“The nation has a disturbing history of lending and other policies that created a significant homeownership and wealth gap between white and non-white citizens,” he said.
The trust’s Homeownership Equity Program (HEP) helps to “enhance and encourage homeownership” for people of color across the state, according to the website. A bonus down payment assistance program also provides loans of up to $25,000 that are forgivable if buyers own and live in the home for at least three years.
Originally created in northwest Vermont with a three-year grant from the New England Federal Credit Union, the down payment program is being expanded statewide through nine partner housing organizations.
