A new Vermont nonprofit, Let’s Build Homes, has the ambitious goal of building 30,000 units of housing across the state by 2030.

This nonprofit, non-partisan alliance is working to “create a future of housing abundance for households of all background and income levels in Vermont while preserving the state’s unique character and cherished landscape.”

They hope to do this through breaking down barriers to construction, advocating and creating flexible policies that allow communities to grow in ways that work for them.

The organization has already garnered support from over 100 Vermont businesses and hundreds of individual residents. Let’s Build Homes has begun the process of organizing as a new, non-profit, 501(c)3. During the current start-up period, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) is serving as the organization’s fiscal agent.

VHFA’s Executive Director Maura Collins said the coalition’s mission is to build more homes of all types for Vermonters of every background and income level.

How will building 30,000 new homes be possible?

At the Montpelier Statehouse Jan. 14, Collins was joined by steering committee members of Let’s Build Homes, including former Bulington Mayor Miro Weinberger, to introduce this new initiative.

While the organization is still in its early stages, they spoke about what people can expect to see from them in the coming months. Let’s Build Homes will tackle the housing crisis through:

• Shifting the Narrative: Promoting a shared vision of Vermont as a state that welcomes new neighbors, growth and opportunity while preserving its unique character.

• Building a Broad Coalition: Uniting individuals, organizations, municipalities and businesses to support housing growth.

• Advocating for Pro-housing State Policy: Driving reform at the state level, including support for pro-housing legislation and regulatory streamlining.

• Engaging Local Governments: Advocating for local ordinances and other local actions that enable and promote housing growth and supporting property owners and builders in navigating complex permitting processes.

• Strategic Planning: Engaging in Act 250 Tier-mapping and ensuring infrastructure investments in village centers, downtowns and growth areas.

More: Burlington organization opens multifamily affordable housing on Main Street

The state of the housing shortage in Vermont

The struggle to find affordable housing has been an ongoing issue not only in Vermont, but nationally. Collins gave the perspective that it’s not an issue only lowest income earners deal with anymore, but people with degrees, in the middle of their careers are struggling when they never did decades ago. She said data shows why that is.

The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development recently released a 2025-2029 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment. The comprehensive analysis is used to identity the current and projected housing needs of a region by examining population growth, household demographics and the availability and affordability of housing.

Looking to the past, there was a spike in the 1980s of construction, where three times the number of houses or apartments were being built compared to current numbers. The census reports Vermont’s 2024 population at 647,818, up a significant amount from 511,546 residents reported in 1985. The increase in population with a slower rate of homebuilding has left many Vermont areas with few vacancies, and even fewer affordable vacancies.

The assessment projects that Vermont needs 30,000 homes by the end of 2029 to achieve strong economic performance and growth that the state needs. To reach that number, the rate of production would need to be doubled.

But it’s a challenge Let’s Build Homes says needs to be contested, and they’re ready to unite Vermont businesses and people to fix the housing crisis.

Collins spoke directly to Vermonters stating that without housing action, “Vermont risks becoming a playground for the rich and famous while moderate-income workers struggle to live here.”

Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.

Riveting and Ribbiting

Saturday 25

Nature devotees of all ages get their creepy-cool critter fix with Stark Mountain Foundation’s Turtles to Toads event at Mad River Glen in Waitsfield. Knowledgeable staff from the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum lead the engrossing educational program, packed with touchable artifacts and toad-ally unique reptiles and amphibians — up close and in the scaly flesh.

Dynamic Doves

Saturday 25

Capital City Concerts continues its lauded 25th season with vocal ensemble Culomba at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. The group, whose name is Corsican for “dove,” performs a vibrant program titled “Color and Joy for a Winter Afternoon,” featuring a diverse repertoire that spans from Balkan traditions to original compositions — the perfect remedy for those postholiday blues.

Viral Vermonter

Saturday 25

Retired teacher Jen Ellis signs copies of her recent memoir, Bernie’s Mitten Maker — chronicling her experience with overnight fame — at Vermont Teddy Bear in Shelburne. Ellis rocketed into the cultural zeitgeist in 2021 when U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders famously donned her cozy creations on Inauguration Day. You can be like Bernie and purchase a pair of meme-worthy mitts for yourself!

Don’t Dream It, Be It

Saturday 25

Creature Feature Club — an intrepid troupe of performers based in White River Junction — reprises its shadow cast roles for a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at New Hampshire’s Lebanon Opera House. Iconic cult characters Brad, Janet and Dr. Frank-N-Furter come to life — on the big screen and onstage — for double the bawdy, gender-blending bliss.

Playing With Fire

Saturday 25

Snowlights: Shadow Play at Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro immerses guests in larger-than-life light displays. The illuminated indoor-outdoor event includes an interactive black light “ocean,” professional fire juggling, live music, and warm drinks and treats. Grab the kiddos and shake off January’s humdrum vibe where art, ingenuity and snow collide.

All Falls Down

Opens Wednesday 29

Vermont Stage raises the curtain on The Play That Goes Wrong at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington. Set in the 1920s, this Olivier Award-winning murder mystery seamlessly blends the satire of Monty Python with the wit of Sherlock Holmes, offering audience members a clever, cunning, laugh-out-loud whodunit theater experience.

Old Haunts

Ongoing

Susan Mikula‘s “Island” exhibition at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center showcases haunting, atmospheric photographs created through the artist’s use of expired instant film and old Polaroid cameras. These dreamy, surrealist vistas highlight an unforgiving 30-acre shelf of bedrock in Bellows Falls — known as “the Island” — where human activity has long defined the landscape.

Vermont’s entire Congressional delegation attended President Donald Trump’s swearing in ceremony on Monday.

Several Democratic members of congress and other dignitaries skipped the ceremony. But U.S. senators Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint were in attendance.

In a prepared statement, Balint said “supporting our democracy means we don’t only attend the peaceful transfer of power when our candidate wins.”

“As we move forward into a critical time in our nation’s history, I’m choosing calm,” Balint said. “Not because I’m blind to the dangers we face, but because this moment requires calm, focus and a clarity of purpose. As we heard outlined today, there is so much at stake, we can’t afford to get distracted or lose focus. Our very democracy is on the line.”

Welch offered congratulations to Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

“My job is to do the best I can to help Vermonters, and I’ll continue to do that,” Welch said in prepared remarks. “We are witnessing today the peaceful transfer of power.”

Sanders’ office said he “believes that the peaceful transition of power is the bedrock of American democracy and — no matter how strongly and profoundly he disagrees with President Trump on the important issues facing our country — it should be respected.”