[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 30, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S7774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S7774]]
                   VERMONT'S CHAMPLAIN HOUSING TRUST

 Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, It is with great pleasure that I 
inform you, my colleagues, and the Nation that Vermont's Champlain 
Housing Trust was selected as one of two recipients of the 2008 World 
Habitat Award, an honor presented annually by the United Nations.
  Each year on World Habitat Day, the United Nations Agency for Human 
Settlements, which promotes socially and environmentally sustainable 
towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all, 
presents these awards. Established in 1985, the World Habitat Awards 
are bestowed on projects that provide practical and innovative 
solutions to current housing needs and problems. One award is for a 
project in the global north and the other for a project in the global 
south.
  I have a particularly deep and lengthy interest in the Champlain 
Housing Trust. It was established as the Nation's first municipally 
funded community land trust in 1984, when I was mayor of Burlington, 
VT. It has grown substantially, and today it is not only the first but 
the largest, community land trust in the country. It has provided a 
model for securing perpetually affordable housing that has been adopted 
by many other cities and municipalities across the Nation.
  The program came into being because, in the 1980s, Burlington faced a 
number of housing challenges--and we were looking for innovative 
solutions. Among other issues that we faced was the reality that low 
and moderate income households, in the face of rapidly rising and 
fluctuating house prices, were threatened with displacement. We also 
believed that decent and affordable housing was a right of all people 
and not just a commodity for financial gain by a select few. As mayor 
of Burlington, I was very fortunate to have an outstanding staff as 
well as strong community input in helping to formulate this concept. 
Among many others who played an active role in developing what was 
initially called the Burlington Community Land Trust were Terry 
Bouricius, John Davis, Peter Clavelle, Michael Monte, Brenda Torpy, and 
Amy Wright.
  When I entered the House of Representatives, my interest in land 
trusts did not abate. Encouraged by the growing land trust community 
across the Nation, I successfully introduced legislation that 
encouraged the use of the land trust model the Burlington community 
land trust had helped establish so that this model could be expanded to 
communities across the country.
  Meanwhile, ably directed by Brenda Torpy and a legion of committed 
staff and volunteers over the past two and a half decades, the 
Champlain Housing Trust has continued to grow and expand its geographic 
reach, and has been met with unparalleled success. Thousands of low and 
moderate income families have been able to experience homeownership, 
while the trust has made great strides both toward revitalizing 
Burlington's historical Old North End neighborhood and expanding to 
three different counties in northwestern Vermont.
  The Champlain Housing Trust is a model of democracy at the 
grassroots, involving homeowners, as well as government officials and 
members of the larger community, in its governance.
  It has been a successful experiment that has revealed to the nation 
and, as this U.N. award demonstrates, to the world as well, how through 
the land trust concept, home ownership can be combined with making 
housing perpetually affordable.
  The 2008 World Habitat Award is in recognition of all who have worked 
on establishing and expanding land trusts, all who have bought land 
trust homes, and all who have helped disseminate the land trust 
concept. And, in particular, it is a celebration of the wonderful work 
done by the Champlain Housing Trust.

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