Our last #FairHousingFriday of Fair Housing Month 2022 left us with a lot to consider. Featuring Bor Yang, Executive Director of the VT Human Rights Commission; Owiso Makuku, CEO of Main Street Landing and VT Affordable Housing Coalition Steering Committee Member; and Elizabeth Bridgewater, Executive Director of Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, we discussed how relying on development alone won’t ensure housing opportunities for the communities with the greatest housing needs in Vermont. This conversation highlighted how housing opportunities are not equally accessible to all low-income Vermonters and presenters shared tools and policy ideas that could be considered to ensure housing equity and housing opportunities for our most vulnerable Vermonters

We heard from panelists about how climate migration – still lead predominately by people with the resources to move- is already impacting housing opportunities for potential first-time home buyers across the state, especially in Southern Vermont. We also heard about how employers are taking on the burden of finding housing for their employees in an effort to meet their workforce needs. Of the tools listed to further equitable housing opportunities, panelists pointed to zoning reforms like inclusionary zoning policies, critical looks at minimum lot sizes and how that curbs what kind of housing is developed, and allowing for more multi-family housing such as duplexed, triplexes, and larger apartment developments. Also highlighted was the need to modernize municipal bylaws that could inadvertently be posing barriers to developing in communities across Vermont.

Unfortunately, audience members are left with the knowledge that often it is the vocal minority that gets in the way of developing new affordable housing, and that housing discrimination continues to impact communities of color, new Americans, folks with disabilities, and renters with children on a wide scale. And discrimination is challenging to track as it is so hard to report, and those with the greatest housing needs may not know their rights, but often are so taxed by trying to meet their own housing needs that they are unable to report the discrimination they face. We are left with the with the responsibility to mobilize in our own communities to consider our regional housing equity gaps, and advocate for policies that not only encourage more housing development, but ensures that housing meets the needs of our community members who are most often overlooked and left behind from the housing conversation.

If you missed it, find the full recording below: