Southern Vermont receives grant for housing and community development

VERMONT - Gov. Phil Scott and the Department of Housing and Community Development announced $3.5 million in Community Development Block Grant funding awards through the Vermont Community Development Program. The funding will support 14 projects in all 14 counties, including affordable home repair financing for low-income homeowners, improvements to community facilities, and the building of new mixed-income housing.
In Windham County, the town of Brattleboro and the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development Inc. were awarded $50,000 to fund an engineering feasibility study of the municipal water and sewer infrastructure to support the potential development of between 100 and 500 units of mixed-income housing.
Vermont’s congressional delegation - Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Peter Welch - has been committed to supporting the funding that makes the program possible, including $1.5 million in recovery housing funding to assist individuals in recovery and build recovery homes.
In Bennington County, the town of Bennington and Shires Housing received $360,540 in Recovery Housing Program  grant awards for the rehabilitation of 612 Gage Street. The building will have two units with nine total bedrooms dedicated to men in recovery, including one housing manager who will also be in recovery. Shires will own the property and act as property manager through the limited partnership. The building will be designed to meet the programmatic needs of the Turning Point Center as they enter into a long-term master lease with Shires.
The Vermont Community Development Program, a division of the DHCD, awards approximately $7 million annually in competitive grants to Vermont cities and towns. The grants are funded through the federal CDBG program, administered by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. CDBG funds enable communities to effectively address local community development needs by providing federal funds to develop viable communities through the provision of modest housing and a suitable living environment.
Funds are also used to expand economic opportunities geared to low and moderate-income individuals and to improve infrastructure critical to community health and welfare.