Equity

Burlington celebrates our cultural and social diversity and works hard to support programs and projects that honor this strength.

The Social Equity Investment Project (SEIP) is a social development resource created to help Vermont leadership and communities’ better address growing cultural diverse and socio-economic issues which impact quality of life for all populations. The goal is to move Vermont beyond the challenging and transformational crossroads recognizing commonality and a shared vision.

Thus, far the SEIP has proven to be valuable resource even beyond Vermont. In March, the SEIP received the 2nd place 2009 City Cultural Diversity Award presented by the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO). The SEIP was awarded nationally to honor its community leadership in developing creative and effective programs designed to improve and promote cultural diversity through a collaborative process with city officials, community leaders and residents. The SEIP model will be placed in the National League of Cities data base for national best practices.

Youth On Boards is a civic engagement project of the City of Burlington’s Legacy Project and its partners. This model program seeks to provide youth leaders with opportunities for representing Burlington’s youth on City Commissions and Boards. Youth on Boards engages youth in developing leadership skills, contributing to building sustainable communities and sharing the wisdom and insight of young people.

Champlain Housing Trust: An evaluation by Champlain Housing Trust in Burlington, Vermont, the nation’s largest community land trust, shows that the community land trust model of shared equity has expanded access to home ownership while also providing permanent affordability. Resale restrictions have succeeded at maintaining affordability, even when home prices increased. More than two-thirds of the 205 residents who exited the land trust have “stepped up” to full home ownership after realizing their land trust equity gain.

The Sustainability Academy is a magnet school at Barnes whose mission is to “help students learn responsibility for making the world a better place for everyone, in addition to becoming excellent readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, historians, geographers, and citizens” as explained by Principle Abi Sessions. The schools curriculum promotes hands-on learning, place-based education, service learning, and makes the material relevant and engaging to students. The Academy was recently featured in “Smart By Nature: Schooling for Sustainability” by Berkeley’s Center for Ecoliteracy. Click to check out “Smart By Nature”

The New Farms for New Americans is a program provided through the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, a community-based organization by Africans for Africans. Their mission is to promote the equal opportunity, dignity, and self-sufficiency of refugee and immigrant individuals and families in Vermont, regardless of race, ethnic group, religious or political affiliation, or sexual orientation. AALV’s long-term goals are enhancing economic mobility of refugees and immigrants in Vermont, improve the health outcomes of Vermont’s refugee and immigrant population, and foster civic education and leadership. The New Farms for New Americans program that gives the resources and education to refugees and immigrants to earn income that they might have otherwise not had, as well as become part of the Burlington community through the various farmers markets participants sell their goods at. The program now sells at five local markets each week including the new South Burlington Farmers Market. As more refugees come the United States there needs to be an infrastructure to accommodate their needs, so Burlington is aiming to develop just that.

INDICATORS

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor