Letter from the CEO
Volatility. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of the last few years. Our world has experienced an unpredictability that we have never seen before.
It’s more than the pandemic: inflation, war, and violence across America is on our news channels every day. In our community, we can see the direct impacts in our neighborhoods and streets. The challenges are often overwhelming, particularly around the need for more affordable housing.
Despite all this, we are rising to these challenges in ways not imaginable just a few years ago that are both transformational and consistent with our mission.
Over 2,500 families live in our rental housing, from group homes to apartments throughout the three counties of northwestern Vermont, with 560 new apartments in various stages of development.
We are committed to making homelessness rare and brief. Right now, over 450 formerly homeless families live in our housing. We are managing the new pod shelter, running a motel that serves homeless people, and creating new apartments for people who are homeless.
Our resident services group provided nearly 4,000 instances of services to 430 residents – in just the last year. Now, 671 families enjoy affordable homeownership because of CHT. They are building wealth and creating a legacy for their families, with 52 buying a home just this past year alone. Hundreds of homes are in the planning stages.
Over 700 households participated in home education and counseling, helping them to be ready to buy a shared equity home or any home on the market. A third of those households were people of color, in part because we launched the Homeownership Equity Program, providing direct support to families through counseling and education, and through down payment assistance. We now provide our homeownership classes in multiple languages.
During the past year, CHT provided 85 low or no interest loans to support housing affordability, with another 100 loans in process. Our loans provided safe housing for farm laborers, manufactured home buyers, low-income homeowners and for landlords, assisting them in bringing their properties up to code.
Our work goes beyond housing. In Winooski, we are working on a plan to revitalize the O’Brien Community Center. In Burlington, we are working on expanding Feeding Chittenden. Our Board continues to press and lead in our commitment to racial justice and equity. Community engagement is rapidly growing at CHT, building leaders and building community.
It is hard to fit on one page all of the amazing work our staff and Board accomplish every day. None of it is possible without the confidence placed in CHT by our federal, state and local partners, and the generosity of hundreds of community members. Thank you.
Michael Monte
(he/him/his)
Chief Executive Officer
Read highlights of our work this year in the 2022 Annual Report
January 31, 2023