Governor Shumlin signed legislation today that will help Vermonters buying their first home through VHFA by providing up to $5,000 for qualified buyers to cover the costs typically faced at closing due to down payment and closing costs.

Two model affordable housing developments in and Vermont are the recipients of the 2015 HUD Secretary’s Housing and Community Design Award, each recognized for excellence in affordable housing design. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) selected Co-Op Plaza Redevelopment in Brattleboro, Vermont as national affordable housing models.

Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law today an historic education reform bill to help ensure educational quality for all Vermont students while bending the cost curve on education spending to address Vermonters’ calls for property tax relief.

The City of Burlington will implement the public outreach phase of a plan to improve water quality through a new, integrated planning approach for wastewater and stormwater management in Burlington. The City’s Water Resource Division will be seeking public input on its upcoming water quality efforts by attending Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs) and meeting with nonprofit organizations and other public agencies to learn how Burlingtonians would like to see their stormwater and wastewater utility fees spent in the fight for improved water quality.

Keeping a mortarboard on a 2-year-old graduate can be a challenge, but parents and their toddlers may give it a shot on June 2. Eleven children and their parents from Franklin and Caledonia counties who were among the first to benefit from two-year Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program will graduate.

The Co-op Plaza has revitalized a key area of the city’s downtown and, through a public-private partnership between the co-op grocery store and a local nonprofit, provided 24 affordable apartments.

Smokey House Center recently committed nearly 250 acres to its impressive portfolio of protected lands. The conservation, agriculture, and education nonprofit in Danby, VT stewards approximately 5,000 acres of working forest and farmland while engaging area youth in hands-on education and supporting the regional food and farm economy

Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected six Vermont communities to receive a total of $2 million for grants under the Brownfield Grant Program that will help them assess and clean up contaminated properties to facilitate their redevelopment and reuse

Working Lands Enterprise Board announced this years 36 grant recipients 24 agriculture and 12 forestry projects for just over $1 million in both Working Lands and Local Food Market Development grant funding.

In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent in Vermont, renters need to earn $20.68 per hour, or $43,017 a year.

Secretaries and Commissioners from the agencies of Agriculture, Commerce and Community Development, and Forests, Parks and Recreation will gather to announce the 2015 Working Lands grant recipients at Maple Wind Farm in Richmond, VT.

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos released the following response: At its core, this bill is about protecting one of the most fundamental rights in our democracy, the right to vote. The right to vote is granted and protected by both the Vermont and United States Constitutions.

Eight rural, underserved Vermont communities are getting help to boost broadband internet speeds. The towns of Norwich, Pittsfield, Randolph, Royalton, Jamaica, Rochester, Reading, and Bradford will receive nearly $900,000 for speed improvement upgrades, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced today

Standing in the heart of a Colchester neighborhood, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced a $500,000 Vermont Community Development Program grant to lock in the affordability of eighty homes and make them more energy efficient. The apartments are part of Winchester Place, a mixed-income development of 166 apartments owned in partnership by the Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont. The long term affordability of the homes will secured through the purchase of the land which has been leased from St. Michael’s College

Please join the Vermont Community Development Association (VCDA) for its Spring Conference on Thursday May 14, 2015, at The Lyons Den in Randolph, Vermont.

Vermont Rural Ventures’ innovative financing of the redevelopment of Brattleboro’s Brooks House has been chosen as a semi-finalist by the National Development Council (NDC) for its Academy 2015 Awards.

On May 4th at 10am, Governor Shumlin will be joining Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont to announce state and federal grant awards for their efforts to preserve the affordability and invest in energy efficiency at Winchester Place in Colchester.

Built in 1989, Winchester Place’s 166 apartments are a significant piece of Chittenden County’s affordable housing stock.

Gov. Peter Shumlin, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, and Green Up Day sponsors Green Mountain Power and Subaru of New England today joined to remind Vermonters to participate in the 45th Annual Green Up Day this Saturday and to highlight a unique, Green Up Day-inspired art project being constructed on the State House lawn.