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Senior Housing In Vermont: Challenges And Strategies

With a rapidly aging population, Vermont is facing increasing challenges in housing its seniors.
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With a rapidly aging population, Vermont is facing increasing challenges in housing its seniors.

Senior citizens make up a large and rapidly growing segment of Vermont's population. Combine that with the state's tight housing market and mostly rural character, and housing for seniors can be a particular challenge here. We're looking at senior housing in Vermont - the challenges and strategies - especially with the state's focus on getting seniors the support they need to stay at home as they get older.

We're joined by Erhart Mahnke, coordinator of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, and by MirandaLescaze, a developer for Cathedral Square, a non-profit that develops and operates housing communities for seniors. We'll also talk to Kirby Dunn, executive director ofHomeShareVermont.

And we talk with Vermont Fish and Wildlife biologist Chris Bernier about the two species of foxes that live in Vermont. You may be hearing more of the strange vocalizations of foxes right now, especially if you live near forests or scrubby agricultural land. That's because it's mating season. Bernier fills us in on the mating behavior of foxes and how you can differentiate between a grey fox and a red fox.

Plus, wildlife officials are keeping track of an illness outbreak among foxes in Washington County. The Health Department is currently testing fox carcasses, but they suspect it's an outbreak of canine distemper, a common and highly contagious disease that spreads easily through many animal populations.

If you see a sick fox, call the Vermont Rabies Hotline: 1-800-4-RABIES

Broadcast live on Thurs., March 10, 2016 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Copyright 2016 Vermont Public Radio

Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer, and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. Until March 2021, she was the host of the award-winning Vermont Public Radio program Vermont Edition.
Sam Gale Rosen is a producer for Vermont Edition. He started at VPR in 2015 and previously worked at WBUR as a producer for On Point.

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