ARPA Funding Overview
Many manufactured housing communities (also known as mobile home parks or MHCs) in Vermont struggle to provide clean and adequate drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and drainage systems. The Healthy Homes Initiative Manufactured Housing Communities Program has over $26 million in ARPA funding to provide technical and financial assistance to remedy those challenges and support safe, affordable housing. This funding will improve living conditions for people in manufactured housing communities and help residents follow Vermont's environmental regulations. The funding can be used to complete a needs assessment, receive technical assistance, and cover construction costs necessary to implement water infrastructure solutions.
The second round of funding was open for applications in fall 2023 and is closed as of October 17th at 4pm. The ANR ARPA Healthy Homes team will send award notifications to manufactured housing communities and post a list of awardees on the application website by the end of January 2024. To receive email updates about the program:
Eligibility
For-profit (private), non-profit, and cooperatively owned manufactured housing communities registered with the State of Vermont’s Mobile Home Park Registry can apply for funding through a competitive application. Funding can be used to determine what water infrastructure projects need to be completed, receive technical and permitting assistance, or cover construction costs necessary to fix existing infrastructure issues. The program has limited funding, and it is unlikely that all applicants will receive funding. Selection criteria for the first and second rounds of funding are described in the respective application materials.
Examples of eligible projects
- Needs assessments of manufactured housing communities for future drinking water / wastewater / stormwater / drainage projects
- Obtaining technical assistance / engineering designs for drinking water / wastewater / stormwater / drainage construction projects
- Water source redevelopment / installations
- Connections to municipal water / sewer projects
- Installation / repair of on-site water or wastewater (septic) systems
- Stormwater retrofits, installations, and developments
- Improvements to site drainage including moving sites out of floodplains / river corridors
- Water supply distribution system installations / repairs
- Wastewater collection system installations / repairs
- Other drinking water, wastewater (septic/sewer), stormwater, or drainage projects may also be eligible in registered Manufactured Housing Communities. To ask whether a project is eligible, contact: ANR.HealthyHomes@vermont.gov or 802-828-0141 or 877-344-0354 (toll-free).
Resources for Manufactured Housing Communities Receiving Awards from the Healthy Homes Program
Informational Webinar Recordings for Awardees
- Cooperatively Owned MHC – Awardee Informational Video (slides)
- Non-Profit Owned MHC – Awardee Informational Video (slides)
- Privately Owned MHC – Awardee Informational Video (slides)
Reporting Resources
Payment Request Webinar
ANR ARPA Beneficiary Payments: Tax Reporting and Tax Liability Memo
Equity Considerations
The Healthy Homes Manufactured Housing Communities Program is providing water infrastructure funding to manufactured housing communities to invest in healthy, reliable infrastructure to address drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and drainage issues, resulting in healthier, more resilient living spaces for residents in manufactured housing communities, a historically underserved group in Vermont.
Manufactured housing communities are disproportionately impacted by environmental justice issues in Vermont. According to the Vermont Rural Environmental Justice Opportunities Informed by Community Expertise (REJOICE), during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, 40% of those impacted by Irene were manufactured housing community residents, even though these residents only make up 8% of the state’s population.
Research has shown that Vermonters, particularly low-income Vermonters, have disproportionately experienced increased impacts from COVID-19 compared to the general population of Vermont and the US. Additionally, manufactured housing communities typically represent a number of low-income Vermonters.
By focusing efforts on manufactured housing communities through technical assistance, needs assessments, and construction funding programs, Vermont is providing direct relief and technical and financial assistance to a demographic of Vermont’s population that have historically been underserved, under-represented, and overburdened.
Learn More
If you have any questions, you can reach out by email or phone at ANR.HealthyHomes@vermont.gov or 802-828-0141 or 877-344-0354 (toll-free).
The first round of applications for funding through the ARPA Healthy Homes MHC program was open in summer 2022. This press release includes a preliminary list of awardees from that application period.
Other complementary funding sources include the USDA. More information on existing funding and technical assistance for water infrastructure projects.