League of Women Voters Hosts Two Meetings
to Address Affordable Housing Issues
BURLINGTON - This September, the League of Women Voters of the Champlain Valley will tackle the issue of affordable housing through two informational meetings. Both events are free and open to the public.
The first is a daytime meeting, featuring speaker David Mullin, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity, on Wednesday, September 5, from noon to 1 p.m., at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington.
The second is an evening event featuring a panel discussion with three experts in the field, followed by audience Q&A. This community discussion will take place on Wednesday, September 19, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., at the Quaker Meeting House, 173 N. Prospect St., Burlington. The panel will include:
John Fairbanks, Public Affairs Manager, Vermont Housing Finance Agency;
Rep. Helen Head, S. Burlington, Chair, House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee;
Brenda Torpy, Executive Director, Champlain Housing Trust.
Keri Toksu, Program Chair of the Champlain Valley League of Women Voters, will moderate.
The League will also be volunteering on Saturday, September 15, at the Habitat for Humanity worksite at 33 Lafountain Street. Previously home to a condemned building, the site had been both a fire hazard and a favorite haunt for drug dealers. In its place, Habitat is building a 5-star energy-efficient duplex home that will be sold at cost to two local families who had been living in substandard housing.
The lack of affordable housing is reaching crisis proportions in Vermont. According to the 2007 report Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Housing and Wages in Vermont, the dream of affordable home ownership is falling out of reach for 67 percent of Vermont households, and 59 percent of Vermont's non-farm workers do not earn enough to afford the average rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment. Both home prices and rents are increasing at a faster pace than wages in our state. Add to this the fact that Vermont has the tightest rental market in the nation, as well as the third-lowest home ownership vacancy rate, and it's clear this is an issue that demands attention. Our affordable housing shortage hurts our people, our economy, and our communities.
What can we do? What is already being done? Find out on September 5th and 19th. Bring your questions and bring a friend to learn more about this important issue.
The League is a non-partisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and the influencing of public policy through education and advocacy. To find out more about the Champlain Valley League of Women Voters, visit our website at http://www.cvlwv.org, email info@cvlwv.org, or call 802-657-0242. For more information about the events on September 5 or September 19, contact Keri Toksu at ktoksu@hotmail.com, or 802-658-0962.
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