Putting the “Share” into Shared Equity Homeownership The day Dylan and Rebecca Merrifox sold their home was bittersweet. Selling the home, which is part of Champlain Housing Trust’s shared equity program, meant saying goodbye to a special place for their young family – even as they were excited for their next step. “It really was […]
This is What Stability Looks Like Hannah Pickett spoke at Champlain Housing Trust’s annual Cornerstone Luncheon in November 2024, a fundraising event attended by about 300 guests. She also spoke at Vermont Housing & Conservation Coalition’s Legislative Day at the State House in February 2025. Here are her remarks. Good afternoon and thank you for […]
Don’t Let the Past Define Your Future “One thing I remember about living in the shelter was I taught myself how to snap my fingers,” recalled Josslyn McKenna. She, her parents, and her sister had become homeless when she was five. Now 17 and a junior at Essex High School – and at home at Champlain […]
Everything I Wanted Not too long ago, Laura Allyn felt stuck. But now, sitting in her one-bedroom home in Burlington, surrounded by family pictures and paintings – many of them done by her mother – Laura explains how this welcoming home once seemed so out of reach for her. “It was a very dark time. […]
A Home with a Lake View Late in 2019, Rose and Michael Jerome toured a Champlain Housing Trust apartment on King Street in Burlington. After years spent bouncing from one place to another, they walked into the vacant 4th floor apartment at 88 King Street ready to find a home they could stay in for […]
My Journey to Homeownership & CHT Board Service Issouf Ouattara is a Champlain Housing Trust Board member and shared equity homeowner who wrote and shared the following remarks at our fundraiser luncheon in November 2023. Good afternoon, everyone! My name is Issouf Ouattara, and I am a CHT Board member. I work at UVM as […]
A Stable Home Photos courtesy of Glenn Russell Before moving into her new apartment in Williston, Michelle Lucas had been without housing for more than four years. She bounced between motels rooms funded by the State or friends’ homes but couldn’t find stability – especially hard as she struggled with multiple health challenges ranging from […]
I Feel Like I’m Home Laurie Grant lived with her mother for six years and was perfectly content, but when her mom passed away in 2018, Laurie needed a change. “There were too many painful reminders everywhere I looked,” she said. Laurie applied for an apartment from Champlain Housing Trust and over the next […]
Joanne Heidkamp and Paul Demers moved to Vermont from Cincinnati in the mid-1990s and found a house in a quiet neighborhood in South Burlington. They felt a wonderful sense of community. “You can always borrow a tool, and you’re happy to feed someone’s cat. Outgrown clothes and toys are passed along from house to house. […]
Seated on his couch in a large open living room and dining space in his home in the Old North End of Burlington, Ganesh Adhikari is surrounded by pictures of loved ones, family heirlooms and decorations. On one wall there’s a video game console connected to the TV with games stacked on top. It’s the […]
Good Neighbors Having a Quiet Home to Rest and Relax is Essential to this Resident of Avenue Apartments [Note: On August 12, 2023, Ahmed Omar died in his sleep unexpectedly. Our thoughts are with his family and many friends. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support them in this difficult time.] Ahmed […]
It Didn’t Get Any Better Than That Wanda Hines knows exactly how to count the years she owned her home on Oak Street in Burlington’s Old North End: she was pregnant with her son at the time. “My son was born in April of 1998 and we closed on the house the following year,” […]
