NO MAN IS AN ISLAND Contribute what you can, and take only what you need. CHT Board Member John Olson’s credo could very well be grounded in Marxism, or perhaps the New Testament: Contribute what you can, and take only what you need. This sums up his motivation not only for his volunteerism, but also […]
FIRST TIME HOMEOWNERS Winooski couple buy their first home OWNERSHIP HELPS FAMILY STAY IN STATE Sarah and Colin Robinson were high-school sweethearts growing up in Brattleboro. They were drawn to settle down in Burlington after graduating from college because of their desire to live in a place that supported their values. “We loved Vermont […]
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE ART IS LIFE > couple moves back to Burlington to raise their family AFFORDABILITY IN THEIR CHOSEN COMMUNITY [story written in 2012] Inside an old brick building that started life as a bakery, Ted and Winnie Looby are raising their four children in a housing cooperative for working artists. “It’s really […]
A NEW HOME IN AN OLD HOUSE … loan fund helps a couple steward a house into its next phase of life A LOAN WITH A MISSION KEEPS A HOME SOUND In 2010, Harvey and Mary Carter bought a light-filled 1870 farmhouse in South Hero. They were making a major life change—retiring from running a […]
A LIFE OF ADVOCACY “The most significant thing about living in this co-op is very simple…It’s still affordable after all these years.” For a stretch of meetings, when Richard Kemp sat on the Board of the Champlain Housing Trust, virtually every meeting ended with him asking, “What are we going to do to house […]
MANY HOMES ALL UNDER ONE ROOF Nancy achieves the American Dream HOUSING SECURITY AND MOBILITY Nancy Taylor’s experiences with the Champlain Housing Trust have spanned more than a decade and a range of services: from an affordable apartment to the house she shares with her dog, Liselle, and an affordable home repair loan. She […]
HOME SWEET HOME It was meant to bee IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED… Early in June, Rita Murphy and a neighbor donned their beekeeping suits and headed out to the tree where a swarm of bees had alighted. They shook the branch once, and a group of bees fell on them. They shook it […]
SAFE AND SOUND A dream home in the making Three years after buying her dream home and weathering an incident where it “rained in the living room,” Martina LeClerc realized she needed help. I knew it was mine before I even walked in the house,” Martina says of her 1900 farmhouse in Fairfield, but the […]
FROM THE GROUND UP The architecture of planned giving BUILDING THE FUTURE Patricia Fontaine comes from a line of people interested in buildings – her grandfather was a master carpenter and her father was a building contractor, so she spent weekends as a kid tagging along to look at buildings her dad was working on. […]
SEASONS OF CHANGE A homeowner’s staying power “I want to stay in my home,” says Annette Koch, sipping a hot cup of tea in her kitchen. She and her (now-ex) husband raised their four children in this historic home in Fairfax Village, and it is full of the family’s memories. On Christmas Eve, 15 […]
LEAP OF FAITH When timing becomes everything Rachel and Steven Phillips moved in with friends in Milton, Vermont, in 2008. They were eager to start a School for the Arts and share their love of dance and drawing with the local community. Rachel is an accomplished ballerina, her career spanning work with the Royal […]
A Place In History Everything old is new again Gillian Franks has lived in a lot of homes with history. She grew up in a red brick Victorian, her bedroom nestled in the roof in what was once the children’s nursery. During her marriage, she and her (now-ex) husband purchased two homes, one built […]