Ability to Plan for the Future

In 2004, Jim DePierro was living with roommates and then at his Mom’s house and was ready for a change. He was a recent graduate from the University of Vermont working several jobs, but his pay wasn’t enough to cover the costs of owning a car, paying insurance and rent on his own. He was seeing apartments in Burlington with rents in the $800 – $1,000 range and places with landlords he preferred not to rent from.

A Champlain Housing Trust ad in the Burlington Free Press for affordable housing caught his eye. He decided to apply and his income made him eligible for a CHT apartment. After about 6 months on the waiting list he was able to move into a CHT studio apartment in downtown Burlington across from City Hall Park. This was a game changer, and a break he calls “lucky” because the affordable rent allowed him to live on his own – and plan for the future.

Jim lived in his CHT apartment for 14 years, all the while working and taking jobs with increasing responsibility, opportunity, and better pay. He was also frugal. “I paid food and rent and didn’t spend money on other things. I was consistently employed and because my rent was affordable, I was able to save.”

Another break Jim calls lucky came in 2018, when a condo in his price range came on the market. Condo living appealed to him and with the money he saved plus a little help from family, Jim was able to purchase his own home. “A condo works for me,” he said, “I don’t have the patience to own a house and having to know how to do everything.”

“I am very thankful to CHT and their mission,” says Jim. “I lived at Park Place for 14 years. I was a low-income worker working mostly retail jobs for that period of my life. Had I been paying the market rate for apartments at that time it is unlikely I would have ever been able to save up enough money to own my home now.”

What does achieving homeownership mean to him? “I’d say it gives me a sense of pride and feeling much more vested. A feeling of security.” Security, he feels, wouldn’t have happened without first having that affordable apartment years ago.

Now, even years later, Jim tries to give back a little every year to support CHT and give others the same chances he had. “I appreciate CHT and I always try to give something at the end of the year to support their work,” he said.