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BOSTON — The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (the Bank) awarded more than $1.3 million in grants, loans, and rate subsidies to fund 40 units of affordable rental housing in Vermont. Of that amount, more than $740,000 is in the form of grants or subsidies. In all, 28 initiatives received more than $17.5 million in grants, loans, and rate subsidies as part of the Bank’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) to create or preserve 445 rental and ownership units for very low-, low-, and moderate-income individuals and families.

Each year, the Bank commits 10 percent of its net profits to provide grants and subsidized, below market-rate loans through the AHP. “The credit crisis has made the need for affordable housing even greater,” said Michael A. Jessee, the Bank’s president and chief executive officer. “Now more than ever, working families, seniors, and special needs populations need decent housing, and I’m proud that our contribution will help make that a reality for more than 400 individuals and families.”

Representative Peter Welch added, “The challenge of affordable housing in Vermont is extremely significant. Vermonters must have access to affordable housing and it will require local support and community-based projects to tackle this important challenge.”

AHP funds are used to create or preserve affordable housing and help pay construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation costs. Member financial institutions work with local developers to apply for AHP funding, awarded twice a year through a competitive scoring process. The application deadline for the second round of this year’s AHP awards is September 12, 2008.

The mission of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston is to support the residential-mortgage and community-development lending activities of its members, which include over 450 financial institutions across New England. To accomplish its mission, the Bank utilizes private-sector capital to provide members and other qualified customers with reliable access to low-cost wholesale funds, liquidity, a competitive outlet for the sale of loans, special lending programs, technical assistance, and other products and services.

Information on the awards follows, and is also available at www.fhlbboston.com/ahp. For more information, see our backgrounder.

The Awards

Location: St. Johnsbury                                  
Member: Community National Bank
Sponsor: Covered Bridge Therapeutic Communities
Number and Type of Units: 10 rental
Amount and Type of Subsidy: $77,000 grant

Covered Bridge Therapeutic Centers. Rehabilitation of a transitional shared residence to increase the number of home-like, service-enriched supportive units for men returning from incarceration or substance-abuse centers. Eight units will be reserved for very low-income, homeless individuals and two will be for live-in staff who earn between 61 and 80 percent of the area median income. All residents will benefit from GED classes, job-placement, and transportation services, as well as the establishment of a residents’ council. In addition to the AHP grant, Community National Bank will provide permanent financing. The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board will provide the additional funding.

Location: Vergennes                                      
Member: National Bank of Middlebury
Sponsor: John Graham Shelter
Number and Type of Units: 4 rental
Amount and Type of Subsidy: $195,580 grant and subsidy, $111,000 advance

East Street Apartments. Acquisition and rehabilitation of an existing three-story building to provide four energy-efficient units of transitional housing for the very low-income homeless. The lack of sufficient transitional housing units in this rural area has resulted in an increasing number of households unable to move from homelessness to appropriate permanent housing. The John Graham Shelter will provide supportive services such as transportation and family self-sufficiency training, and residents will form a council and have representation on the sponsor’s board of directors. The National Bank of Middlebury will provide bridge financing and permanent debt using the AHP-subsidized advance, and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board will provide additional funding.

Location: West Woodstock                                       
Member: Lake Sunapee Bank, FSB
Sponsor: Housing Vermont
Number and Type of Units: 26 rental
Amount and Type of Subsidy: $471,281 grant and subsidy, $465,000 advance

Grange Hill Family Housing. New construction and rehabilitation of a former grange hall property involving 10 new duplex and triplex buildings and three apartments. This green building initiative will be the first new multifamily construction in Woodstock since 1995 and the town’s first ever affordable rental apartments. The sponsor will provide financial planning and ownership/financial-literacy counseling, and residents will form a council. Twin Pines Housing Trust is the cosponsor and has partnered with Housing Vermont. Lake Sunapee Bank will provide the permanent financing using the AHP-subsidized advance, and other funding comes from Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME, and CDBG funds.