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DHCD and VHCB urge routing $2M resident‑services appropriation to VHCB; philanthropist funds 10 coordinator positions
Summary
Witnesses from DHCD and VHCB told the House General & Housing Committee on Feb. 26 that resident‑service coordination is an urgent statewide need and recommended the committee route the $2,000,000 appropriation to VHCB.
Witnesses from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) told the House General & Housing Committee on Feb. 26 that resident‑service coordination is an urgent, statewide need and recommended that the committee route the $2,000,000 appropriation for resident services directly to VHCB.
Paula Major, policy director for DHCD, told the committee that the resident‑services appropriation in the committee’s bill was authorized in last year’s Act 181 but that, operationally, VHCB is well placed to administer the dollars. “I would recommend that the $2,000,000 flow directly to VHCB for this work,” she said, citing VHCB’s relationships with nonprofit housing owners and operators.
Jenny Deslop, VHCB’s housing director, described a privately funded, time‑limited pilot that VHCB is standing up. VHCB secured a one‑time philanthropic grant of $3 million (approximately $1 million per year for three years) to place resident‑service coordinators at regional nonprofit housing organizations. The grant funds 10 coordinator positions; VHCB told committee members that nine of the 10 positions were filled and work was already underway.
VHCB explained that the coordinators will provide place‑based, open‑door services in housing — short‑term help to navigate benefits and community services, assistance to avoid eviction, community‑building activities, and referral to clinical and social supports. The program will use evidence‑based practices (trauma‑informed care, motivational interviewing and assertive engagement) and a shared data platform to track interventions and outcomes.
Witnesses asked the committee to preserve a $400,000 SASH (Support And Services at Home) pilot line for Brattleboro area partners and to authorize VHCB to receive and administer the $2,000,000 appropriation rather than routing it through Agency of Human Services due to capacity and operational alignment.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about populations served and possible technical assistance roles; witnesses said VHCB can support project design and provide tactical assistance for complex developments when funding is embedded in its capital appropriations. VHCB said it will return later with outcome data after the pilot’s first season of operation.
