Annual Meeting 2023 – Champlain Housing Trust

Dear CHT Member,

This has been another extraordinary year. I am so pleased to invite you to join us in person for our Annual Meeting and Dinner on January 27^th. Our team is hard at work planning a reflection of the past year’s activities and welcoming everyone back together after two years of virtual events.

For those of you who are unable to attend in person, we will be livestreaming the Annual Meeting portion of the event. Virtual attendees will be able to vote using polls during the meeting. However, there will be some limitation: you will be able to view the meeting but not be able to chat or have other interaction.

I very much hope you’ll join us for our Annual Meeting on Friday January 27^th at 5:30 pm (check in opens at 5:00, the meeting starts at 5:30, dinner will follow the meeting at 6:30). We’ll be back at the Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain on Battery Street in Burlington.

In-person registration has CLOSED—contact Jack to make any changes to an existing registration

REGISTER for the livestream (meeting only)

At the Annual Meeting, we will recognize our collective accomplishments and learn about what’s ahead, participate in the election of the Board of Directors, and honor staff who achieved milestones this year. After the meeting, we will celebrate our departing Board member and annual awards as we gather together and have dinner.

The agenda for the event is below, along with supporting documents and links. Be sure to read bios of our new and renewing Board Members, and check out the event details.

If you have any questions, comments, or want more information about CHT for the Open Member Forum or in general, we are always open to hearing from members. Bring your questions to the meeting or use this form to share your thoughts in advance:

Member Inquiry Form

For now: please register. If you need help with translation, technology, or any other accommodations, or if you need to change your registration at any point, please contact Jack Commo by email or phone at (802) 861-7399.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you for our 2023 CHT Annual Meeting and Dinner.

Sincerely,

Jeff Smith, Board President

P.S. We will be collecting items for the new pantry at Susan’s Place. Please bring any non-perishable food, hygienic items, paper products, or diapers that you wish to donate.

Registration & Event Details

REGISTER HERE to watch the livestream video from home for the Annual Meeting ONLY (5:30-6:15pm)

FREE Parking: You’ll need to add your license plate number on the registration form. (If you already registered and need to add or change your vehicle information, please fill out this form.)

We’re Here to Help! If you need accommodations for registration, materials, or attending online or in person, please contact Jack Commo by email or phone at (802) 861-7399.

Covid Protocol: As with all public events, please follow appropriate Covid-19 protocols. If you don’t feel well, stay at home, and if you can, please take a rapid test before you come.

Quick Links

To review the Agenda, click here.

To learn more about the Board Bios, click here.

To see who will be celebrated for Staff Anniversary Recognitions, click here.

To learn more about what it means to be a CHT Member, click here.

To review the Annual Report, click here.

Agenda

5:00 pm Check In

Drop off your donations for the Susan’s Place food pantry!

5:30 pm Annual Membership Meeting

Welcome, CEO Remarks
ACTION: Adoption of the minutes of the January 27, 2022 Annual Meeting
President’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Staff Anniversary Recognitions
ACTION: Board Elections
- Resident Seat Elections by CHT Residents Only (renters, homeowners, co-op members)
  • Lisa Lord, First Term
- Public Seat Election by All CHT Members
  • Gillian Nanton, Public–Third Term
  • Helen Head, Public–Second Term
Open Member Forum: Share Your Thoughts With Us!

6:15 pm Adjourn Meeting, Livestream Ends

6:30 pm Dinner and Awards

Outgoing Board Member Recognition: John Olson
Joan Beauchemin Award for Civic Engagement: Laurie Grant
Special Community Award: The City of Winooski
Brenda Torpy Founders Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Perpetual Affordability: Jennifer Hollar

Board Bios

LISA LORD: First Term—Resident Member, Co-op

Growing up in New Hampshire, Lisa dreamed of moving to Vermont. Now a Burlington resident for 18 years, Lisa is the Director of Workforce Development for Recovery Vermont and the Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, a non-profit organization that celebrates recovery through training, advocacy, and innovation. Through her work, she is inspired daily by examples of the power and possibilities of recovery, and by how transferrable the tools for recovery are to all other aspects of life and work. She serves as an ambassador for Champlain College’s Single Parents Program, and is one of the original members of the Bright Street Co-op where she lives with her two teenage children.

GILLIAN NANTON: Third Term—Public Member

Gillian Nanton is a development manager with more than 25 years of combined economic development experience. She serves as Assistant Director for Opportunity and Engagement in the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) with the City of Burlington. Prior to joining CEDO in 2015, she served as Chief of the Caribbean Division at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York, before being assigned to Jamaica as the UNDP Resident Representative and Resident Coordinator for the United Nations. Gillian holds an MBA from Rutgers University and is twice a graduate of the University of the West Indies where she earned a BSc in Economics and Master’s in Social Sciences. She serves on the boards of the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center and South End Arts & Business Association (SEABA).

HELEN HEAD: Second Term—Public Member

Helen Head has focused on affordable housing issues for many years – in legal aid, shared housing, and the legislature. From 2003-2019, Helen represented Chittenden 7-3 in the Vermont House and became chair of the committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs in 2007. She now serves as co-coordinator of Small Potatoes, an interfaith food initiative, and is a volunteer for both hospice and a prisoner/community reintegration program. Helen is a board member for Emerge Vermont and is co-presiding clerk of Burlington Friends Meeting (Quaker). She and her husband, Tom Mercurio, have two grown children and live in South Burlington.

OUTGOING BOARD MEMBER: John Olson

Please join us in thanking John for his nine years of service to the CHT Board of Directors as a resident representative. John has held many roles over this time, notably as chair of the Co-ops Advisory Committee. The Board and staff of CHT extend their heartfelt gratitude to John for his endless good cheer, thoughtful questions, and enthusiastic representation of his community.

John Olson has been a resident/owner at the Flynn Avenue Co-op Homes in Burlington since 2005. John works for the Vermont Department of Health, managing federal grants to support small rural hospitals, clinics, and health care workforce. At the Flynn Ave Co-op, he served as a Board Member and as Treasurer from 2010-2014.. He received an inter-disciplinary Master of Education degree from UVM in 2000. John grew up in rural Minnesota and moved to Burlington in 1988 after graduating college.