The table below summarizes the supportive housing needs of Burlington
residents who are not homeless but who have special needs.
There is more rent-assisted housing for the elderly in Burlington
than for any other group. Subsidized units include:
| Cathedral Square (HUD 202) 100 Fern Hill (HUD 202) |
60 |
| Heineberg Senior Housing (LIHTC) |
48 |
| 230 St. Paul Street (Section 8) |
159 |
| 101 College Street (Section 8) |
64 |
| 10 N. Champlain Street (Section 8) |
50 |
| McKenzie House (Section 8) |
40 |
| McAuley Square (LIHTC & Project-Based Vouchers) |
55 |
| Ruggles House (LIHTC & Project-Based Vouchers) |
11 |
| TOTAL |
587 |
Currently, elderly families make up 6% of the
Burlington Housing Authority’s waiting list for public housing
and 9% of the waiting list for Section 8 tenant-based
assistance. For both elderly renters and elderly homeowners,
supportive services to allow “aging in place” and affordable
assisted living units are the primary need. For low-income
seniors, there is only one assisted living facility - currently
under construction, with City financial support, at 3 Cathedral
Square in Burlington. Until similar facilities are developed in
every region of Vermont, low-income seniors will be faced with
few options other than entering a nursing home - again, at
considerable personal and social cost. The City will support
affordable assisted living, shared elder living and preservation
of existing affordable elderly housing rather than new rental
housing for independent seniors.
In spite of the completion of the South End
Community Housing by Lake Champlain Housing Development
Corporation and the four new rental units being developed at
21-23 North Champlain Street by the Burlington Community Land
Trust, there is a need for more supportive housing in the City
and the region for residents with chronic mental illness and
developmental disabilities. See the Inventory at p. 78.
Additional supportive housing should be developed in Burlington
and in adjacent communities.
The housing crisis affecting all Burlington
residents also, of course, impacts persons with disabilities –
residents with mental illness and developmental disabilities and
those with physical disabilities. Currently, there are 26
families with disabilities on BHA’s waiting list for public
housing and 275 on the waiting list for Section 8 tenant-based
assistance. Finding accessible housing and home providers
becomes even more difficult, and those with disabilities are at
a significant disadvantage in competing for the limited supply
of available, affordable housing.
Service providers are increasingly finding that
they must provide “blended” support services – including housing
search assistance, as the tight housing market in the City
affects their clients. At the same time, the tight labor market
makes it difficult to recruit caregivers and home providers – a
preferred service. The supply of attendant care is inadequate to
meet community needs. The community still needs to develop a
system for matching persons with mobility impairments with
accessible housing units.
Both housing organizations and human service
providers have expressed growing concern about the diminishing
level of support for individuals and families with chronic
mental health issues living in community settings. On a
state-wide level, the Agency of Human Services needs to provide
more resources and support for people with mental illness,
especially as it moves into the HMO-mode of paying community
mental health centers. Housing organizations are concerned that
clients from Howard Center for Human Services will get lower
levels of support, which will undermine the goals of community
integration for people with mental illness. The State must not
abandon clients with chronic mental illness under the guise of
placing them in the community.
There are 163 cases of AIDS statewide. Because
of the small number of AIDS patients in Vermont, the Department
of Health does not release information on the incidence of AIDS
at the city or county level. There are 14 Shelter Plus Care
apartments located in Colchester for persons living with
HIV/AIDS. The private nonprofit Vermont CARES has an office in
Burlington that provides information, referrals, counseling and
advocacy to residents living HIV/AIDS.
