News Archives

The Unique Challenges Facing Vermont's Homeless Population

March 19, 2015/in Announcements

Difficulty accessing affordable transportation, child care and housing are all magnified in a rural place like Vermont. The Unique Challenges Facing Vermont’s Rural Homeless Population is the subject of a Vermont Public Radio feature.

Vermont deploys a range of services provided by organizations throughout the state, but is also committed to a Housing First model for addressing homelessness. Paul Dragon, Director of Vermont’s Office of Economic Opportunity, said, “It’s hard to work on many of the other issues, particularly finding employment or getting someone’s diabetes or hypertension under check, or getting them to counseling for substance or mental health, if they don’t have a home … So that is a big component of Housing First. Let’s get people stabilized, get them in a home, and then we can work on these other issues.”

Rural Water Facilities Are in Need of Funding

March 18, 2015/in News

According to Agri-Pulse, a new GAO report found that rural communities will need $140 billion worth of drinking water and wastewater system upgrades in coming decades. There are seven federal agencies which provide rural communities with needed funding and technical assistance for their utilities. However, these agencies are facing more than $1 billion in reduced spending in fiscal year 2015. For rural communities that rely on these funds to provide clean water to citizens, these cuts can be devastating.

Stories of Poverty in Rural Appalachia

March 12, 2015/in Announcements

In the second installment of his series on “America’s Poorest Towns” for www.thinkprogress.org, Scott Rodd writes a series of essays profiling people trying to cope with persistent poverty in Beattyville, KY.

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Rodd interviews several residents of Beattyville in an effort to identify the root cause of the town’s continued poverty and economic struggles. These stories help to illustrate the depth and breadth of challenges a persistently poor rural community faces.

Read the first story in the series, which profiles Campti, LA.

Affordable Housing Gap Continues to Grow

March 10, 2015/in Announcements

The Low-Income Housing Coalition’s latest issue of its Housing Spotlight examines the gap between the supply and demand for affordable rental units at the national and state level. The report, Affordable Housing is Nowhere to be Found for Millions, provides a detailed look at the housing needs of low-income renter households across the country. According to the report, there are only 31 affordable and available rental units for every 100 extremely low-income renter households. The report highlights a variety of factors that have contributed to this growing issue and notes that without government intervention at the federal, state, and local level, the gap will only continue growing.

HUD Releases Worst Case Housing Report Summary

February 18, 2015/in Announcements

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development released the executive summary to their 2015 Worse Case Housing Needs Report to Congress. The report found that the unmet need for decent, safe, and affordable rental housing continues to outpace the ability of federal, state, and local governments to supply housing assistance. Although worst case housing needs have decreased since 2013, the shortage of affordable rental housing is still problematic. In 2015, 6 of 10 extremely low-income renters and 3 of 10 very low-income renters still did not have access to affordable and available housing units.

Over half of rural Americans Lack Benchmark Broadband Access

February 11, 2015/in Announcements Broadband

The 2015 Broadband Progress Report from the Federal Communications Commission indicates that over half of rural Americans lack access to benchmark broadband connections. For rural tribal lands, approximately 85 percent lack proper broadband.

The Silent (And Invisible) Farmworker Housing Crisis

February 10, 2015/in Blog Posts

by Lance George and Leslie Strauss

“Rural America’s Silent Housing Crisis,” an article in The Atlantic magazine’s February edition, describes the overlooked plight of rural families who struggle to obtain quality housing they can afford. The article does not look specifically at the housing problems of farmworkers – a crisis that deserves attention because it is not only silent, but often invisible.

Because of the nature of their employment and working conditions, farmworkers’ housing options are often substantially different from the overall market in terms of cost and quality. Most farmworkers find housing through the private market. But rental housing is not as plentiful in rural places as it is in most cities. Additionally, landlords typically ask for a security deposit, a credit check, and a long-term commitment, requirements that often conflict with the unique conditions of the farm labor industry…

Read the full post on Harvesting Justice

Affordable housing and the financial crisis

January 27, 2015/in Announcements

Affordable housing programs were not to blame for the financial crisis, according to a study highlighted in Wonkblog. The study indicates that the the majority of mortgage dollars and defaults from 2003 – 2006 occurred in higher cost mortgages.

What Does FHA's New Lower Interest Rate Mean For Borrowers

January 26, 2015/in Announcements

What does FHA’s new interest rate drop mean for borrowers? NPR’s Marketplace Economy investigates the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) new lower charges and how it may impact housing affordability across markets.

CFPB launches mortgage toolkit

January 13, 2015/in Announcements

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launches a toolkit that will help consumers shop for a mortgage by finding the best rates in their area based on data the agency gathers from lenders.