December 2, 2025 • 37 mins
Director of Development Sarah Madru and Operations Manager Nick Landry discuss "Permanent Affordability" in our Central Vermont communities and the massive projects they've been undertaking in 2025 - plus - what's coming in 2026!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:32):
Kunta at nothing to make nothing nothing.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
All right, guys, the snow continues to fall, and I'll
tell you the roads are not looking at all that
great outside my window here North Main Street in Varya.
(02:19):
We'll try to get a camera shot here and in
just a little bit. But please drive carefully today. Exercise
a whole heap of caution. This is pretty much the
first halfway decent snow event that we've had this winter,
and under the assumption that you've got your snow tires on.
(02:42):
But still, even so, it's easy to forget how to
how to drive for the snow. Just slow down. I
don't need to. I don't mean to sound like your mother,
but just to be careful today. Allow plenty of to
distance between you and the guy in front of of you.
(03:03):
There's a lot of plows out. The crews are working hard.
Don't crowd the plow. I know that's been kind of
a cliche statement over the winters, but it's true, especially
on the big road on the interstate. Keep your speed
in check today. Stay off your devices. Don't be driving
(03:25):
down the road putting your makeup on, or reading the
paper or on your phone. Be careful. It is giving Tuesday.
And as I said, we've got another huge agency right
here in central Vermont that is doing so so much
for Vermonors. Not five days a week, seven days a week,
(03:48):
around the clock, and some great people that are with
me on the couch. Let's take you there. Nick Lantry
is the operations manager over at Downstreet and Sarah Mudreaux. Listen,
welcome to your new post. You and I have had
a chance a little bit to chat. But this is exciting.
(04:08):
This is this is You've been at this now for
how long?
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I've been with Downstreet for about seven seven months a
little more at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Okay, how exciting? How has it been so far?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
It's been fantastic. Honestly, I feel honored to work for
an organization like Downstreet. I think the quality of work
and the genuine passion and care that people bring to
it every day is incredible.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah. And this guy sitting next to you, tell us
about Nick. Nick.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Nick is our what is your title? Operations manager? But
Nick is our jack of all trades in the office.
He works with every department and he is learning I
think probably every department at Downstreet from compliance to communications.
He does it. He does support for all of us.
Nick is kind of a lynch pin. I would say
(05:02):
in our office.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Wow, Nick, tell me about what you guys are doing
here on Giving Tuesday today.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So today we're here, we want to talk to you
about a lot of the stuff we got going on
next year. We've got We've got a bunch of projects
in the pipeline for twenty twenty six. Sarah's actually got,
we got. We brought the list today. There's a lots
of things perfect.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
But this is an opportunity today for folks to make
a donation if they would like to downstreet and I'll
get the link up there in the comments. But you
guys are doing real, real important work here, and there's
really some exciting things on the horizon. Let's let's tell
me about some of them. And there's no rules here.
(05:49):
You can cut each other off, you can jump right
in what's coming up in twenty twenty six, well, maybe
even recap the end of twenty twenty five. I mean,
look at this right here in our community, the Speranza
in we got the Fox run. Those are just two
of the big hitters.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
At Ward five five five Ward five Brohmer Street was
redone and we converted a schoolhouse that was that was
a big one. That was a property that was off
the tax rolls, so we put it back in the
tax rolls. We converted it to nine units. We helped
four people exit homelessness into permanently affordable housing, and we
(06:25):
really created a community there. It's it's actually in my neighborhood.
That was as a kid, that was my bus stop.
So it's nice to see the building. Yeah, it looks
beautiful now. And they did in July. The residents just
of their own volition, got together and hosted a July
fourth picnic for not just the building but everybody in
that neighborhood. And they went around and invited people down.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Wow. And and she's been in here, Kathy's beIN in here.
There's some really exciting things that are wrap it up
here in the month of December.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Over at the Spurance in Yeah, In we purchased and
started operating in April, and that took a massive renovation
of that property. But there are forty two rooms there,
thirty of which are now fully finished and fully occupied,
and the other ten will be coming online this month.
And that project is it's a homeless services hotel in
(07:18):
downtown burry that serves our community, helps people have a
stable place to be and get back on their feet.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The old quality, the old quality.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, and if you've been by it looks incredible. It's
a beautiful, beautiful color.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Now, Nick, share with us what happened over there at Thanksgiving,
because I just love stuff like this.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
So Kathy had a great idea where we could ask
just a couple members of the community affiliates and staff
to donate a couple of pies. And that was the
idea was we'd have some pies and we do a
nice pie breakfast for Thanksgiving. I had three pies left
at the office once tonight I ran up there and
I couldn't put them in the fridge because the fridge
(07:58):
was full and the counter was fulled. There was about
two dozen pies that were donated. There were some guests
who were staying at the hotel. One of them was
a formal cook and he was just he was giddy
with the kitchen. He was telling me about how he
made keish for people in the morning and he's going
to come down Thanksgiving and he's going to be heating
up pies and serving until they run out of food.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I love that. It's so great. Let's talk about the
coming year.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yeah, the coming year is going to be a really
exciting one for us. I actually I did bring the
list because there's a few projects and we didn't want
to forget any of them. A couple of things. We're
going to have a grand opening in Waterbury in the
spring for Marsh House, and that is going to add
twenty six new affordable homes, so that we'll be leasing
for those in the spring, people will be moving in
(08:44):
next year. We're also going to be doing three projects.
We're going to be groundbreaking on three projects that will
be here in Barry, in Montpellier, and in Johnson, and
those are all multi family apartment buildings. The total number
of affordable homes that will be added through those three
projects is seventy seven in central Vermont, which is just extraordinary.
(09:08):
And so that those are groundbreakings all happening in twenty
twenty six. We're also going to be buying eight cabins
up in Morrisville and renovating those into single family homes.
Six of those will be becoming a shared equity homes.
And then there's four homes that we're going to be
opening in mont Pillier this year that are also going
to be part of our shared equity portfolio, single family homes,
(09:32):
a lot of homes that we're adding to the community.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
You know, I was looking at I was looking at
your social media recently. The team that you guys have
over there at Downstreet is huge.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Yes, so like I, Sarah's been seven months. I've been
here for just over our year. Half those people in
the picture were new hires in the last year, So
there was about thirty thirty staff in total when I
came on, and I will the first of seventeen new
positions that were created, and we've created about twelve or
(10:06):
fifteen more positions in a second wave of hiring, and
that's building out the staff for the Sproanza in because
it's not just a hotel, it's wrap around services. So
we have a case manager on site who's coordinating with
the goal of helping those people not just have a
place to stay. That's important, that's the first move. And
(10:27):
then secondly, what other services do they need so they
can successfully transition into permanently affordable housing. Let's get them
housed and employed and integrated back into our community.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
When you say the words permanently affordable. Let's give a
kind of a definition of what that is. It's long
term affordable.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, Actually, forever is the legal term that we abide by.
We have what's called a forever covenant. So when we
do projects like Fox Run or Ward five, we get
a HUD money from the federal government and they say
it has to be affordable, and they say you have
to not only make it affordable, but you have to
keep that building in your portfolio and you must keep
(11:13):
it affordable by federal definitions forever. So when we build
affordable housing, that.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Is it rather than a limited time.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Yeah, at no point do we transition into market rate
housing or do we get to hike the rents. There's
guidelines so that the numbers change over time because the
markets change. The specific definition of the dollar amount of
affordability will change over time, but we will forever be
within those federal guidelines. They will forever be affordable housing.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
That's what you just said is so important. There is
some flux here. I mean, of course there is. It's
the global economy. I mean it's everywhere. But keeping it
within within the means that people can really not only
get in but stay is the key here. Is that's
(12:05):
the goal.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
That's the goal. So it's all income based. So our
our north star, our federal number that drives all these
regulations is what it's called the AMI, the area median income.
So for people who don't math, because I know there's
not a lot of math, I'm a math gap, but
not everybody else's I'm very much not, okay. So median
is basically like an average. It's just a fancy way
(12:28):
of doing a more accurate average. So they look at
the income for Washington County and they say, on average,
this is the income, and then we're going to peg
affordability at eighty sixty and forty percent for the various
programs of that average number. So so part of the
(12:49):
struggle with that and Barry is that average number includes
Waterbury and some more of the affluent towns they so
in Barry we're on the end of that average, okay.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So getting people to be able to comfortably afford to
live and not have to cut corners elsewhere in their lives,
whether it's medications or having a pet, caring for a pet,
medical expenses, you know, we need we need to live.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Right, What is it I think they recommend thirty percent
of your income goes towards your rental expenses. And we
have a lot more people in our communities that are
spending more than fifty percent of their income just to
afford rent every month. And that doesn't include heating your
house and transportation and childcare and unforeseen medical events and
(13:48):
all of those things.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Prescription costs, yes, so we have an internal rule of
fifty percent. We don't when we look at we ask
applicants to demonstrate their come and we look at that
and say, hey, can you is your income double the
rent so you're only paying fifty percent, Like that's our ceiling.
So there are some people where we have to say
(14:09):
this particular apartment's not a good fit for you, because
we're not going to rent to somebody that's going to
be paying more than fifty percent of their income to
the rent. That's not good long term planning, that's not
fair to them. So we need to find a different
a different apartment, a different program for them so that
the apartment fits within their means.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And she says that in the year twenty twenty five.
This year, Downstreet had about seventy new homes under construction
across four communities and as you guys said, seventy seven
for that coming.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Year, Yeah, we'd be breaking ground on seventy seven new
homes and that the ones that Angie was talking about
was Fox Run was included in that the Ward five
schools and the work that we were doing on Marsh House,
which will open in the spring.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Unless we forget about Seminary.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, that's the very So we call that Steven Spranch
Apartments and that's the one that we'll be breaking ground
in spring.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
This coming a couple of months.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, we're we're pulling all the details together.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Wow, let's talk about Fox Run. It's so beautiful. And
look look where look at the location. I mean it's
right there, it's right there. Let's talk about getting into
Fox Run. You've got a couple of units still available, yep,
but they're filling up.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Yeah, we were, We're there are four units left. They're
all two bedroom units. So there's a they're listed on
the web page. And uh and actually we have for
fox Run, we have a specific site. If you go
to the rental page on our website, Fox Run has
its own page still and you can you can get
the application there. There's contact information from both questions, and
(15:59):
for the month for anybody who leases in December, we're
giving a discount for one month of free rent to
help people get into the apartment, because I know that
sometimes it's hard to get in with first and last
and deposit and all that.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Sure, but I mean, look at your walking distance to
shopping employment. Employment. I mean, you could literally live at
Fox Run and easily have a job at the Central
Medical Center.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
And that's that. That was a huge collaboration with the
town of Berlin, and we're both really excited about that.
They're they're building a downtown center there. I mean, and
we've heard about this for years, but now we're seeing it.
The new road's going in Fox Run.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Is there?
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Chestnut Place is there? They're starting to build. They're building
up a food place next to it. Is a Starbucks?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Maybe, Yes, I heard about.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Starbucks at Chipotle and that's all going right next to
Fox Run. That road all the way around is going
to be built up if you look at the town plan.
So so Fox Run is the beginning of building a
downtown center. So people who live there are going to
be in downtown Berlin.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, downtown Berlin.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
How about that?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
What a concept. Isn't that something? And I'm just gonna
speak here on behalf of many for honors. Thank god,
they're repaving that road, yes, come on.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Oh oh oh, they're not just repaving it, they're rebasing it.
I drove by there and look, they tore that whole thing.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Out there on the ground up as they should have. Yes,
and it's wider. I mean, it's just it and it's
you come on, it's a supper road. Now, It's right,
it's a proper needed it's it's it was so it's
so far overdue and it's so needed getting in there,
getting out of there, not just for for the locals,
but also for folks that are hopping off, the tourists
(17:54):
that are hopping off Exit seven and they want to
get something and get out. The perception is reality of
our roads. And I mean, look at it's really really beautiful. Now, yeah,
it's nice.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
And you mentioned Fox Run. Its beautiful. And I think
that's an important point to notice. When we're talking about
permanently affordable housing. It doesn't mean that we're building to
minimum codes.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
And we're yeah, right, people have a.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Right to housing, but they also have a right to
live in beautiful housing right that that's part of respecting
people who need these housing. All of us have a
right to live in housing that is beautiful and functional
and well built. So when we're doing these projects, we
are building it with that in mind, that these are
people's homes we're building, and we take that seriously in
(18:41):
the design build process.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And we're also thinking years down the road in terms
of sustainability, so it's being built with quality materials that
will last and is built with energy efficiency as well.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Codes have really changed here over the last couple of
years building coats and to your point, we've got stuff
that's being built to last a heck of a lot longer,
which is great news. You guys are doing a great
(19:13):
job connecting with your community. You've got some fantastic outreach
on Thursdays here, you're you're doing stuff with your social
media where you're connecting with so many for honors to
answer questions and provide some information from the source. Tell
me about that a little bit.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
That was your idea, I think, well, So it started
with Sarah's predecessor. We we had a communications and development
director and then he moved back to New York. He
got a different job because he was he was moving
back and that was about a month after I was hired,
So so that was a year ago. Yeah, that was December.
(19:55):
So I had some projects when I first came on
and some some big tea projects that just things that
needed to be addressed that had been long standing. And
then around the springtime I took over social media. Just
the idea was to keep it alive. Let's just let's
just keep Facebook posting and work with what we've got
and keep it alive until we can until we can
(20:16):
have a marketing team, which with the addition of Grace, now.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
We have great stuff. I mean there's there's Honestly, it's
it's like enough always. And I think I said this
to you at one point, nick, I, along with so
many others, have always heard the words downstreet housing and
(20:40):
community development, but never really had a full a general
grasp of what it is that you do, but never
a thorough understanding. And I think you guys are really
chipping away at that and making sure that more from
honors not only know exactly what it is that you do,
(21:04):
but also support what you do financially and otherwise.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yes, absolutely, and we do a lot. So the goodness
is we do a lot. The challenge with outreach is
we do a lot of different things, so it's not
a short answer. And that's where a lot of this
posting came about. When I started working for Downstreets, I
was telling all my friends and family like, hey, I
got a job at Downstreets, like I've always wanted this,
This is great. And they're like, yeah, who is that?
(21:31):
And I'm like, I'm like CVCLT, Right, you remember the
land Trust And I'm like, oh, yeah, they build houses
or something, right, And I'm like, no, nobody knew what,
and I'm from here, so I just assumed that everybody
would know. And that's part of the challenge, especially as
the organization grows and we get really into housing, as
we sort of drink the juice. So I know, and
(21:52):
I assume that other people know. And this seems really
obvious to us, but it's not obvious to everybody else
because because we're just talking about it to ourselves internally, right,
we need to help it be obvious to everybody else
by talking about all these things like the Thursday FAQ's. Yeah,
to answer these we have questions that keep coming up,
so we keep posting those questions and the answers to
(22:14):
those questions.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You guys are on track to own what now, eight
hundred apartments somewhere in that in that figure.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Here grow over eight hundred now yeah, with the additional
Lamoyle County. We crossed eight hundred a few months ago.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
All right, so almost at a thou.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Well yeah, seventy yeah, seventy here and seventy there.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
We'll get there and just under if if I remember correctly,
just under a hundred manufactured homes. I think somewhere in
that ballpark.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Yeah, the parks, Yeah, Bridge Street, Limehurst. There's another one
in Williamstown, and I think there's some unless I'm still learning.
The wild portfolio like that that doubled everything, So we're
I've been taking drives out to Morrisfield to learn.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
You guys just have partnered up with the Vermont Housing
and Conservation Board and hosted the Vermont House Appropriations Committee
on a tour of some of these projects. Just pretty slick.
I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
We do a lot of work with VHCB, and they're
a huge partner. They because they get these things cost money.
It was half a million, a little over half a
million dollars per unit and climbing times seventy seven units
next year. So so I'm not good enough with math
to do that in my head, but it's a big number, right,
(23:47):
that's a big number. And not all that comes from
the federal government, and what comes from the federal government
comes with strings. So anytime we can get it from
state or local, that gives us more flexibility to have
projects that are that are more designed around the needs
of the community and less designed around the constraints of
the funding.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
We're we're head first here into a new legislative session.
Do you feel that the powers that be under the
Golden Dome are really as privy as they maybe should
be to the good things, the great things that you
(24:29):
guys are doing at Downstreet. Are they as aware as
they should be that you guys are really chipping away
at the homeless crisis that we have in our states. Yes, yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Think they know, and they're very supportive.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
And Angie and Kevin do a lot of work communicating
amount player and that's what helps build these partnerships with
these these state and pseudo state organizations that keep us going.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, we all hear the word affordability, We all hear
the word housing. Often those two words go together, and
those are hot buttons. Man. I mean three of us
know that those are buzzwords here in Vermont. We need
to we really need to get this figured out. And
it affects everything. I mean, it's really the foundation of
(25:23):
If we don't have that, we're not going to have
these other things fall into place.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
It's the foundation of our community.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It is.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
So when we have housing, then we have people who
can live here. And when we have people who can
live here, now we have people who can work here,
and people who can generate income and pay taxes and contribute.
That's it, right, All of those things predicate on those
people having somewhere to live. Yeah. And it's not just
it's not just people moving in it, it's people who
(25:52):
grew up here. Like I've spent most of my life
on the same hillside of the same valley, and I
struggled to be able to buy a house. I had
family members question why I bothered moving back here. Both
of my siblings that they left and they do very
well in other states.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
So so we have programs that help with that, Like
you mentioned the shared Equity program, that's huge, that's that
helps get people into houses. That helps with that that
down payment, that sort of unreal number that we need
to have to get a mortgage.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
What about home share? Is that anything that you guys
get into discuss that is not.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Us, that is not There is an organization who o
Vermont Homeshare does that very well, So that that's the
need that's being met somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Yeah, this is a time when so many of us
are counting our blessings. We're so grateful for what we have,
and some of us don't have a lot, but this
is the season it tends to be anyway where we
(27:00):
do count those blessings, even if there are few and
far between. Uh hu, we've also said that and you
just said uh when you when you came to the building, Nick,
we're what a bad day away I think was your words,
A bad day away from being homeless.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
So many people are one bad day with you know.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
I anything could happen.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
So shortly before I came to Downstrets, I lost a
job and that was a rough day and my first,
my first crisis I crossed my mind was like how
many mortgage payments can I make before I run out
of money? That's the I lose a job. The next
thing to go is I lose my house. And it
was it was eight months of six banks to be
(27:49):
able to get a mortgage to keep that house. And
I don't want to have to go through that again.
And so and we've seen it, we've seen you know,
the stories are the people that come to Speranza in
places like that because their house caught fire. Sure, and
the insurance money came through, and it's not enough to
(28:10):
buy a house, So now they're and then it's not
enough to get an apartment. Now what do they do.
We had a family who they were paying the rent
and they did everything right. The landlord was not paying
the mortgage, and when the bank foreclosed, the landlord still
gets to keep all that rent money and the people
who live there are pushed out. The great story is
(28:33):
for both of those people, they were able to go
one through Speranza and another through Ward five and we're
able to get them into housing and support them so
they could move forward.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
With their lives. This could happen to any of us,
any of us, including the three of us sitting right here.
You mentioned fire. I mean, you could be in a
horrible accident, You could have a health crisis. I mean,
there's there's so many different things that could be stacked
up against you where you need help.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Mm hmm. It's I mean, it's it's scary because we
don't have a lot of social help right now and
and it and people are falling through the crocs with
social programs. Which is why the which is why I'm
proud of the work we do. It downstreets and why
I come to work. So there are a lot of
people we can catch before they fall through, and we
can help them with shared equity programs, we can help
(29:22):
them with subsidized housing, we can help them through Speranza,
you know, and there's we can help them through SASH
and wrap around services. And this is why we this
is why we do I mentioned we do. The good
news is we do all these things. The challenges we
have to explain all these different things we do because
those are because those are all the needs we service,
(29:44):
and not just this community we service Berry, and we're
based out here and Berry, but but we service several
communities across three counties where we're servicing from here down
to Bradford, and we're servicing from here up to Johnson
and all those communities in between in all the various
and sundry needs that they have. So we're looking at
our programs and finding ways to create solutions for each
(30:08):
one of those communities.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
What about career opportunities over it down Street, that's.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
A great career opportunity where we're big on hiring within.
We've actually had to hire four maintenance techs in the
past year because they keep getting from a maintenance tech
that moved into real estate development. We have a maintenance
tech who's a property manager now. Our maintenance director, facility
director was needs title facilities facilities director was originally a
(30:39):
maintenance tech. So every time somebody moves into the office
or gets another job to forward their career, then we
hire another maintenance tech.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
But definitely check out the website because there are jobs
posted on it right now.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Yes, we are. We are accounting because we're growing, yeah,
and that means we have a lot of growing and
property management growing in the portfolio. Also means our back
end services like compliance and accounting need to grow, so
we're creating new positions. We have a new position for marketing,
(31:13):
and we have a new position and compliance, and we
have a new position in accounting.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Sarah, you mentioned the website. It's incredible, it's amazing. It
is just chuck full of so much and some of
what you'll see are a lot of what you'll see
our available apartments, yes, and living opportunities.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
It's a really comprehensive look at all the different programs
that we that we operate there. It's a good place
to go if you're a member of the community that
wants to know more about what we're doing. If you're
looking for an apartment, if you're looking for career opportunities,
if you're looking to make a donation but you can,
you know that will tell our story. There is a
section called Stories, and if you're just looking to know
(32:00):
how we operate and how we touch people's lives, go
there and read about some of the things that we do.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
It's a lot. It's Giving Tuesday. Make a uh, you know,
make a a donation, a gift to Downstreet if you
would like. We've got the link up there. You guys
are really uh doing incredible work and I am honored
(32:27):
to be connected with you. You've always always always got a
microphone for anything that you need to promote or otherwise,
just let me know.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Giving Tuesdays. So we've talked about some really big numbers
and a five dollar donation doesn't seem like it's going
to help. And that's absolutely false. I know every five dollars.
Never underestimate five dollar donations spread across the community. It's
the theory of you know, a small group of people
(33:02):
makes big changes. Power numbers, power numbers, all those all
those No donation is a small donation, Every every donation,
every dollar counts and every little all of those dollars
add up, and that's what helps us keep the lights on,
and that's what helps us keep going, and that's what
helps us create new programs that are tailored to the
needs of our community.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
And we're so grateful to this community who's been tremendously
supportive of Downstreet and the work that we're doing.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Sure, yeah, one of these days, it's it's going to happen.
Kevin Ellis is going to get in here. You know,
he and I met a couple of years ago and
we're like, yeah, man, we got to get in touch,
we got to get connected, and we're just super busy guys.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Well, Kevin is our board chair. H this is his
last term on the board, so before he is done
in the spring, ye have him come on.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Here's the thing. He's not afraid of a microphone though
at all. What a great guy. I look forward to
having him on. Thank you both so much for sneaking
in here. Anything else we can think of that we
want to wrap up with. We're covering all our basis
this morning.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I think we covered a lot this morning. But let's
just take it time to say thank you for this
time of opportunity to reach out and educate our community.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
My great pleasure. Thank you both so much for coming
in here again. Be careful driving today. It is it
is looking very snowy out there. It is not great.
Go easy today. Thank you both so much. Now you
guys don't need to drive out of here. Yeah, you're
going to walk the right across the parking lot over
(34:41):
at Summer Street. What a great building that is too,
It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. Thank you both so much. Downstreet,
Sarah Moodreaux and I am saying that correct, Madrew, but
Drew the director of Development and Operations Manager Nick Lantry,
thank you ever so much, Thank you, thank you,
Kunta at nothing to make nothing nothing.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
All right, guys, the snow continues to fall, and I'll
tell you the roads are not looking at all that
great outside my window here North Main Street in Varya.
(02:19):
We'll try to get a camera shot here and in
just a little bit. But please drive carefully today. Exercise
a whole heap of caution. This is pretty much the
first halfway decent snow event that we've had this winter,
and under the assumption that you've got your snow tires on.
(02:42):
But still, even so, it's easy to forget how to
how to drive for the snow. Just slow down. I
don't need to. I don't mean to sound like your mother,
but just to be careful today. Allow plenty of to
distance between you and the guy in front of of you.
(03:03):
There's a lot of plows out. The crews are working hard.
Don't crowd the plow. I know that's been kind of
a cliche statement over the winters, but it's true, especially
on the big road on the interstate. Keep your speed
in check today. Stay off your devices. Don't be driving
(03:25):
down the road putting your makeup on, or reading the
paper or on your phone. Be careful. It is giving Tuesday.
And as I said, we've got another huge agency right
here in central Vermont that is doing so so much
for Vermonors. Not five days a week, seven days a week,
(03:48):
around the clock, and some great people that are with
me on the couch. Let's take you there. Nick Lantry
is the operations manager over at Downstreet and Sarah Mudreaux. Listen,
welcome to your new post. You and I have had
a chance a little bit to chat. But this is exciting.
(04:08):
This is this is You've been at this now for
how long?
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I've been with Downstreet for about seven seven months a
little more at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Okay, how exciting? How has it been so far?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
It's been fantastic. Honestly, I feel honored to work for
an organization like Downstreet. I think the quality of work
and the genuine passion and care that people bring to
it every day is incredible.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah. And this guy sitting next to you, tell us
about Nick. Nick.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Nick is our what is your title? Operations manager? But
Nick is our jack of all trades in the office.
He works with every department and he is learning I
think probably every department at Downstreet from compliance to communications.
He does it. He does support for all of us.
Nick is kind of a lynch pin. I would say
(05:02):
in our office.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Wow, Nick, tell me about what you guys are doing
here on Giving Tuesday today.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So today we're here, we want to talk to you
about a lot of the stuff we got going on
next year. We've got We've got a bunch of projects
in the pipeline for twenty twenty six. Sarah's actually got,
we got. We brought the list today. There's a lots
of things perfect.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
But this is an opportunity today for folks to make
a donation if they would like to downstreet and I'll
get the link up there in the comments. But you
guys are doing real, real important work here, and there's
really some exciting things on the horizon. Let's let's tell
me about some of them. And there's no rules here.
(05:49):
You can cut each other off, you can jump right
in what's coming up in twenty twenty six, well, maybe
even recap the end of twenty twenty five. I mean,
look at this right here in our community, the Speranza
in we got the Fox run. Those are just two
of the big hitters.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
At Ward five five five Ward five Brohmer Street was
redone and we converted a schoolhouse that was that was
a big one. That was a property that was off
the tax rolls, so we put it back in the
tax rolls. We converted it to nine units. We helped
four people exit homelessness into permanently affordable housing, and we
(06:25):
really created a community there. It's it's actually in my neighborhood.
That was as a kid, that was my bus stop.
So it's nice to see the building. Yeah, it looks
beautiful now. And they did in July. The residents just
of their own volition, got together and hosted a July
fourth picnic for not just the building but everybody in
that neighborhood. And they went around and invited people down.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Wow. And and she's been in here, Kathy's beIN in here.
There's some really exciting things that are wrap it up
here in the month of December.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Over at the Spurance in Yeah, In we purchased and
started operating in April, and that took a massive renovation
of that property. But there are forty two rooms there,
thirty of which are now fully finished and fully occupied,
and the other ten will be coming online this month.
And that project is it's a homeless services hotel in
(07:18):
downtown burry that serves our community, helps people have a
stable place to be and get back on their feet.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The old quality, the old quality.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, and if you've been by it looks incredible. It's
a beautiful, beautiful color.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Now, Nick, share with us what happened over there at Thanksgiving,
because I just love stuff like this.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
So Kathy had a great idea where we could ask
just a couple members of the community affiliates and staff
to donate a couple of pies. And that was the
idea was we'd have some pies and we do a
nice pie breakfast for Thanksgiving. I had three pies left
at the office once tonight I ran up there and
I couldn't put them in the fridge because the fridge
(07:58):
was full and the counter was fulled. There was about
two dozen pies that were donated. There were some guests
who were staying at the hotel. One of them was
a formal cook and he was just he was giddy
with the kitchen. He was telling me about how he
made keish for people in the morning and he's going
to come down Thanksgiving and he's going to be heating
up pies and serving until they run out of food.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I love that. It's so great. Let's talk about the
coming year.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yeah, the coming year is going to be a really
exciting one for us. I actually I did bring the
list because there's a few projects and we didn't want
to forget any of them. A couple of things. We're
going to have a grand opening in Waterbury in the
spring for Marsh House, and that is going to add
twenty six new affordable homes, so that we'll be leasing
for those in the spring, people will be moving in
(08:44):
next year. We're also going to be doing three projects.
We're going to be groundbreaking on three projects that will
be here in Barry, in Montpellier, and in Johnson, and
those are all multi family apartment buildings. The total number
of affordable homes that will be added through those three
projects is seventy seven in central Vermont, which is just extraordinary.
(09:08):
And so that those are groundbreakings all happening in twenty
twenty six. We're also going to be buying eight cabins
up in Morrisville and renovating those into single family homes.
Six of those will be becoming a shared equity homes.
And then there's four homes that we're going to be
opening in mont Pillier this year that are also going
to be part of our shared equity portfolio, single family homes,
(09:32):
a lot of homes that we're adding to the community.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
You know, I was looking at I was looking at
your social media recently. The team that you guys have
over there at Downstreet is huge.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Yes, so like I, Sarah's been seven months. I've been
here for just over our year. Half those people in
the picture were new hires in the last year, So
there was about thirty thirty staff in total when I
came on, and I will the first of seventeen new
positions that were created, and we've created about twelve or
(10:06):
fifteen more positions in a second wave of hiring, and
that's building out the staff for the Sproanza in because
it's not just a hotel, it's wrap around services. So
we have a case manager on site who's coordinating with
the goal of helping those people not just have a
place to stay. That's important, that's the first move. And
(10:27):
then secondly, what other services do they need so they
can successfully transition into permanently affordable housing. Let's get them
housed and employed and integrated back into our community.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
When you say the words permanently affordable. Let's give a
kind of a definition of what that is. It's long
term affordable.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, Actually, forever is the legal term that we abide by.
We have what's called a forever covenant. So when we
do projects like Fox Run or Ward five, we get
a HUD money from the federal government and they say
it has to be affordable, and they say you have
to not only make it affordable, but you have to
keep that building in your portfolio and you must keep
(11:13):
it affordable by federal definitions forever. So when we build
affordable housing, that.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Is it rather than a limited time.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Yeah, at no point do we transition into market rate
housing or do we get to hike the rents. There's
guidelines so that the numbers change over time because the
markets change. The specific definition of the dollar amount of
affordability will change over time, but we will forever be
within those federal guidelines. They will forever be affordable housing.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
That's what you just said is so important. There is
some flux here. I mean, of course there is. It's
the global economy. I mean it's everywhere. But keeping it
within within the means that people can really not only
get in but stay is the key here. Is that's
(12:05):
the goal.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
That's the goal. So it's all income based. So our
our north star, our federal number that drives all these
regulations is what it's called the AMI, the area median income.
So for people who don't math, because I know there's
not a lot of math, I'm a math gap, but
not everybody else's I'm very much not, okay. So median
is basically like an average. It's just a fancy way
(12:28):
of doing a more accurate average. So they look at
the income for Washington County and they say, on average,
this is the income, and then we're going to peg
affordability at eighty sixty and forty percent for the various
programs of that average number. So so part of the
(12:49):
struggle with that and Barry is that average number includes
Waterbury and some more of the affluent towns they so
in Barry we're on the end of that average, okay.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So getting people to be able to comfortably afford to
live and not have to cut corners elsewhere in their lives,
whether it's medications or having a pet, caring for a pet,
medical expenses, you know, we need we need to live.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Right, What is it I think they recommend thirty percent
of your income goes towards your rental expenses. And we
have a lot more people in our communities that are
spending more than fifty percent of their income just to
afford rent every month. And that doesn't include heating your
house and transportation and childcare and unforeseen medical events and
(13:48):
all of those things.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Prescription costs, yes, so we have an internal rule of
fifty percent. We don't when we look at we ask
applicants to demonstrate their come and we look at that
and say, hey, can you is your income double the
rent so you're only paying fifty percent, Like that's our ceiling.
So there are some people where we have to say
(14:09):
this particular apartment's not a good fit for you, because
we're not going to rent to somebody that's going to
be paying more than fifty percent of their income to
the rent. That's not good long term planning, that's not
fair to them. So we need to find a different
a different apartment, a different program for them so that
the apartment fits within their means.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And she says that in the year twenty twenty five.
This year, Downstreet had about seventy new homes under construction
across four communities and as you guys said, seventy seven
for that coming.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Year, Yeah, we'd be breaking ground on seventy seven new
homes and that the ones that Angie was talking about
was Fox Run was included in that the Ward five
schools and the work that we were doing on Marsh House,
which will open in the spring.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Unless we forget about Seminary.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Yeah, that's the very So we call that Steven Spranch
Apartments and that's the one that we'll be breaking ground
in spring.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
This coming a couple of months.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, we're we're pulling all the details together.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Wow, let's talk about Fox Run. It's so beautiful. And
look look where look at the location. I mean it's
right there, it's right there. Let's talk about getting into
Fox Run. You've got a couple of units still available, yep,
but they're filling up.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Yeah, we were, We're there are four units left. They're
all two bedroom units. So there's a they're listed on
the web page. And uh and actually we have for
fox Run, we have a specific site. If you go
to the rental page on our website, Fox Run has
its own page still and you can you can get
the application there. There's contact information from both questions, and
(15:59):
for the month for anybody who leases in December, we're
giving a discount for one month of free rent to
help people get into the apartment, because I know that
sometimes it's hard to get in with first and last
and deposit and all that.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Sure, but I mean, look at your walking distance to
shopping employment. Employment. I mean, you could literally live at
Fox Run and easily have a job at the Central
Medical Center.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
And that's that. That was a huge collaboration with the
town of Berlin, and we're both really excited about that.
They're they're building a downtown center there. I mean, and
we've heard about this for years, but now we're seeing it.
The new road's going in Fox Run.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Is there?
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Chestnut Place is there? They're starting to build. They're building
up a food place next to it. Is a Starbucks?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Maybe, Yes, I heard about.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Starbucks at Chipotle and that's all going right next to
Fox Run. That road all the way around is going
to be built up if you look at the town plan.
So so Fox Run is the beginning of building a
downtown center. So people who live there are going to
be in downtown Berlin.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, downtown Berlin.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
How about that?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
What a concept. Isn't that something? And I'm just gonna
speak here on behalf of many for honors. Thank god,
they're repaving that road, yes, come on.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Oh oh oh, they're not just repaving it, they're rebasing it.
I drove by there and look, they tore that whole thing.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Out there on the ground up as they should have. Yes,
and it's wider. I mean, it's just it and it's
you come on, it's a supper road. Now, It's right,
it's a proper needed it's it's it was so it's
so far overdue and it's so needed getting in there,
getting out of there, not just for for the locals,
but also for folks that are hopping off, the tourists
(17:54):
that are hopping off Exit seven and they want to
get something and get out. The perception is reality of
our roads. And I mean, look at it's really really beautiful. Now, yeah,
it's nice.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
And you mentioned Fox Run. Its beautiful. And I think
that's an important point to notice. When we're talking about
permanently affordable housing. It doesn't mean that we're building to
minimum codes.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
And we're yeah, right, people have a.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Right to housing, but they also have a right to
live in beautiful housing right that that's part of respecting
people who need these housing. All of us have a
right to live in housing that is beautiful and functional
and well built. So when we're doing these projects, we
are building it with that in mind, that these are
people's homes we're building, and we take that seriously in
(18:41):
the design build process.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And we're also thinking years down the road in terms
of sustainability, so it's being built with quality materials that
will last and is built with energy efficiency as well.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Codes have really changed here over the last couple of
years building coats and to your point, we've got stuff
that's being built to last a heck of a lot longer,
which is great news. You guys are doing a great
(19:13):
job connecting with your community. You've got some fantastic outreach
on Thursdays here, you're you're doing stuff with your social
media where you're connecting with so many for honors to
answer questions and provide some information from the source. Tell
me about that a little bit.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
That was your idea, I think, well, So it started
with Sarah's predecessor. We we had a communications and development
director and then he moved back to New York. He
got a different job because he was he was moving
back and that was about a month after I was hired,
So so that was a year ago. Yeah, that was December.
(19:55):
So I had some projects when I first came on
and some some big tea projects that just things that
needed to be addressed that had been long standing. And
then around the springtime I took over social media. Just
the idea was to keep it alive. Let's just let's
just keep Facebook posting and work with what we've got
and keep it alive until we can until we can
(20:16):
have a marketing team, which with the addition of Grace, now.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
We have great stuff. I mean there's there's Honestly, it's
it's like enough always. And I think I said this
to you at one point, nick, I, along with so
many others, have always heard the words downstreet housing and
(20:40):
community development, but never really had a full a general
grasp of what it is that you do, but never
a thorough understanding. And I think you guys are really
chipping away at that and making sure that more from
honors not only know exactly what it is that you do,
(21:04):
but also support what you do financially and otherwise.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yes, absolutely, and we do a lot. So the goodness
is we do a lot. The challenge with outreach is
we do a lot of different things, so it's not
a short answer. And that's where a lot of this
posting came about. When I started working for Downstreets, I
was telling all my friends and family like, hey, I
got a job at Downstreets, like I've always wanted this,
This is great. And they're like, yeah, who is that?
(21:31):
And I'm like, I'm like CVCLT, Right, you remember the
land Trust And I'm like, oh, yeah, they build houses
or something, right, And I'm like, no, nobody knew what,
and I'm from here, so I just assumed that everybody
would know. And that's part of the challenge, especially as
the organization grows and we get really into housing, as
we sort of drink the juice. So I know, and
(21:52):
I assume that other people know. And this seems really
obvious to us, but it's not obvious to everybody else
because because we're just talking about it to ourselves internally, right,
we need to help it be obvious to everybody else
by talking about all these things like the Thursday FAQ's. Yeah,
to answer these we have questions that keep coming up,
so we keep posting those questions and the answers to
(22:14):
those questions.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You guys are on track to own what now, eight
hundred apartments somewhere in that in that figure.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Here grow over eight hundred now yeah, with the additional
Lamoyle County. We crossed eight hundred a few months ago.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
All right, so almost at a thou.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
Well yeah, seventy yeah, seventy here and seventy there.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
We'll get there and just under if if I remember correctly,
just under a hundred manufactured homes. I think somewhere in
that ballpark.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Yeah, the parks, Yeah, Bridge Street, Limehurst. There's another one
in Williamstown, and I think there's some unless I'm still learning.
The wild portfolio like that that doubled everything, So we're
I've been taking drives out to Morrisfield to learn.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
You guys just have partnered up with the Vermont Housing
and Conservation Board and hosted the Vermont House Appropriations Committee
on a tour of some of these projects. Just pretty slick.
I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
We do a lot of work with VHCB, and they're
a huge partner. They because they get these things cost money.
It was half a million, a little over half a
million dollars per unit and climbing times seventy seven units
next year. So so I'm not good enough with math
to do that in my head, but it's a big number, right,
(23:47):
that's a big number. And not all that comes from
the federal government, and what comes from the federal government
comes with strings. So anytime we can get it from
state or local, that gives us more flexibility to have
projects that are that are more designed around the needs
of the community and less designed around the constraints of
the funding.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
We're we're head first here into a new legislative session.
Do you feel that the powers that be under the
Golden Dome are really as privy as they maybe should
be to the good things, the great things that you
(24:29):
guys are doing at Downstreet. Are they as aware as
they should be that you guys are really chipping away
at the homeless crisis that we have in our states. Yes, yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Think they know, and they're very supportive.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
And Angie and Kevin do a lot of work communicating
amount player and that's what helps build these partnerships with
these these state and pseudo state organizations that keep us going.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, we all hear the word affordability, We all hear
the word housing. Often those two words go together, and
those are hot buttons. Man. I mean three of us
know that those are buzzwords here in Vermont. We need
to we really need to get this figured out. And
it affects everything. I mean, it's really the foundation of
(25:23):
If we don't have that, we're not going to have
these other things fall into place.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
It's the foundation of our community.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
It is.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
So when we have housing, then we have people who
can live here. And when we have people who can
live here, now we have people who can work here,
and people who can generate income and pay taxes and contribute.
That's it, right, All of those things predicate on those
people having somewhere to live. Yeah. And it's not just
it's not just people moving in it, it's people who
(25:52):
grew up here. Like I've spent most of my life
on the same hillside of the same valley, and I
struggled to be able to buy a house. I had
family members question why I bothered moving back here. Both
of my siblings that they left and they do very
well in other states.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
So so we have programs that help with that, Like
you mentioned the shared Equity program, that's huge, that's that
helps get people into houses. That helps with that that
down payment, that sort of unreal number that we need
to have to get a mortgage.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
What about home share? Is that anything that you guys
get into discuss that is not.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Us, that is not There is an organization who o
Vermont Homeshare does that very well, So that that's the
need that's being met somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Yeah, this is a time when so many of us
are counting our blessings. We're so grateful for what we have,
and some of us don't have a lot, but this
is the season it tends to be anyway where we
(27:00):
do count those blessings, even if there are few and
far between. Uh hu, we've also said that and you
just said uh when you when you came to the building, Nick,
we're what a bad day away I think was your words,
A bad day away from being homeless.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
So many people are one bad day with you know.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
I anything could happen.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
So shortly before I came to Downstrets, I lost a
job and that was a rough day and my first,
my first crisis I crossed my mind was like how
many mortgage payments can I make before I run out
of money? That's the I lose a job. The next
thing to go is I lose my house. And it
was it was eight months of six banks to be
(27:49):
able to get a mortgage to keep that house. And
I don't want to have to go through that again.
And so and we've seen it, we've seen you know,
the stories are the people that come to Speranza in
places like that because their house caught fire. Sure, and
the insurance money came through, and it's not enough to
(28:10):
buy a house, So now they're and then it's not
enough to get an apartment. Now what do they do.
We had a family who they were paying the rent
and they did everything right. The landlord was not paying
the mortgage, and when the bank foreclosed, the landlord still
gets to keep all that rent money and the people
who live there are pushed out. The great story is
(28:33):
for both of those people, they were able to go
one through Speranza and another through Ward five and we're
able to get them into housing and support them so
they could move forward.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
With their lives. This could happen to any of us,
any of us, including the three of us sitting right here.
You mentioned fire. I mean, you could be in a
horrible accident, You could have a health crisis. I mean,
there's there's so many different things that could be stacked
up against you where you need help.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Mm hmm. It's I mean, it's it's scary because we
don't have a lot of social help right now and
and it and people are falling through the crocs with
social programs. Which is why the which is why I'm
proud of the work we do. It downstreets and why
I come to work. So there are a lot of
people we can catch before they fall through, and we
can help them with shared equity programs, we can help
(29:22):
them with subsidized housing, we can help them through Speranza,
you know, and there's we can help them through SASH
and wrap around services. And this is why we this
is why we do I mentioned we do. The good
news is we do all these things. The challenges we
have to explain all these different things we do because
those are because those are all the needs we service,
(29:44):
and not just this community we service Berry, and we're
based out here and Berry, but but we service several
communities across three counties where we're servicing from here down
to Bradford, and we're servicing from here up to Johnson
and all those communities in between in all the various
and sundry needs that they have. So we're looking at
our programs and finding ways to create solutions for each
(30:08):
one of those communities.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
What about career opportunities over it down Street, that's.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
A great career opportunity where we're big on hiring within.
We've actually had to hire four maintenance techs in the
past year because they keep getting from a maintenance tech
that moved into real estate development. We have a maintenance
tech who's a property manager now. Our maintenance director, facility
director was needs title facilities facilities director was originally a
(30:39):
maintenance tech. So every time somebody moves into the office
or gets another job to forward their career, then we
hire another maintenance tech.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
But definitely check out the website because there are jobs
posted on it right now.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
Yes, we are. We are accounting because we're growing, yeah,
and that means we have a lot of growing and
property management growing in the portfolio. Also means our back
end services like compliance and accounting need to grow, so
we're creating new positions. We have a new position for marketing,
(31:13):
and we have a new position and compliance, and we
have a new position in accounting.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Sarah, you mentioned the website. It's incredible, it's amazing. It
is just chuck full of so much and some of
what you'll see are a lot of what you'll see
our available apartments, yes, and living opportunities.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
It's a really comprehensive look at all the different programs
that we that we operate there. It's a good place
to go if you're a member of the community that
wants to know more about what we're doing. If you're
looking for an apartment, if you're looking for career opportunities,
if you're looking to make a donation but you can,
you know that will tell our story. There is a
section called Stories, and if you're just looking to know
(32:00):
how we operate and how we touch people's lives, go
there and read about some of the things that we do.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
It's a lot. It's Giving Tuesday. Make a uh, you know,
make a a donation, a gift to Downstreet if you
would like. We've got the link up there. You guys
are really uh doing incredible work and I am honored
(32:27):
to be connected with you. You've always always always got a
microphone for anything that you need to promote or otherwise,
just let me know.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Giving Tuesdays. So we've talked about some really big numbers
and a five dollar donation doesn't seem like it's going
to help. And that's absolutely false. I know every five dollars.
Never underestimate five dollar donations spread across the community. It's
the theory of you know, a small group of people
(33:02):
makes big changes. Power numbers, power numbers, all those all
those No donation is a small donation, Every every donation,
every dollar counts and every little all of those dollars
add up, and that's what helps us keep the lights on,
and that's what helps us keep going, and that's what
helps us create new programs that are tailored to the
needs of our community.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
And we're so grateful to this community who's been tremendously
supportive of Downstreet and the work that we're doing.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Sure, yeah, one of these days, it's it's going to happen.
Kevin Ellis is going to get in here. You know,
he and I met a couple of years ago and
we're like, yeah, man, we got to get in touch,
we got to get connected, and we're just super busy guys.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Well, Kevin is our board chair. H this is his
last term on the board, so before he is done
in the spring, ye have him come on.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Here's the thing. He's not afraid of a microphone though
at all. What a great guy. I look forward to
having him on. Thank you both so much for sneaking
in here. Anything else we can think of that we
want to wrap up with. We're covering all our basis
this morning.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I think we covered a lot this morning. But let's
just take it time to say thank you for this
time of opportunity to reach out and educate our community.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
My great pleasure. Thank you both so much for coming
in here again. Be careful driving today. It is it
is looking very snowy out there. It is not great.
Go easy today. Thank you both so much. Now you
guys don't need to drive out of here. Yeah, you're
going to walk the right across the parking lot over
(34:41):
at Summer Street. What a great building that is too,
It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. Thank you both so much. Downstreet,
Sarah Moodreaux and I am saying that correct, Madrew, but
Drew the director of Development and Operations Manager Nick Lantry,
thank you ever so much, Thank you, thank you,
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