BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The Champlain Housing Trust is expanding a program to help BIPOC Vermonters become homeowners.
It’s called the Homeownership Down Payment Program and it provides a $25,000 forgivable loan to buyers who are Black, indigenous or people of color who are buying a permanently affordable home through the Champlain Housing Trust or its partner agencies across the state.
Homeowner Marnie Avila of South Burlington said without the program, she would never have bought a home.
“Buying a house in the U.S. is like super stressful and very challenging. Financially, this just was just impossible for us. So, they did provide a lot of financial support. We definitely did know we wanted to stay in Vermont and we wanted to move to Burlington. This is our American dream,” Avila said.
The expansion was made possible, in part, through a donation of $1 million from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott.