Sold for $1 Million to Become Housing: A Bankrupt Diocese Gets Court Approval to Sell a Former Senior Home

• The Diocese of Vermont sold the former Loretto Home in Rutland for $1 million
• The 20,000-square-foot building was a senior living facility
• Buyer Cornerstone Housing Partners plans permanent affordable apartments
• The diocese is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy after abuse claims

A Vermont diocese in bankruptcy has won approval to sell a former senior home for affordable housing, VTDigger reported in December 2025.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont is selling the former Loretto Home, a 20,000-square-foot senior living facility on Meadow Street in Rutland, to Cornerstone Housing Partners, a Rutland nonprofit, for $1 million. The diocese filed for Chapter 11 protection a year earlier after clergy abuse settlements had cut its assets roughly in half, to about $35 million. Since the filing, 119 people have submitted new abuse allegations.

Church lawyers told the court that “the proposed sale represents the highest and best offer for the property, and the proceeds of the sale will assist the diocese in funding the administration of this bankruptcy case and ultimately paying creditors.” Judge Heather Cooper approved the sale.

Mary Cohen, chief executive of Cornerstone Housing Partners, said: “We’re not going to purchase the building if we can’t create affordable apartments there. The goal is to create permanent housing.” Responding to local concerns, she added: “We’re good landlords. We house people and take good care of our property.”

The sale turns a building designed for residential care into permanent homes, a natural conversion. For the diocese, it raises cash under court supervision; for the town, it adds housing.

Jamaican churches with former children’s homes, senior homes or schools that are no longer used could consider similar conversions. Selling or leasing to a housing nonprofit keeps a building serving people in need. Before any sale, churches should check title, trust conditions and any government funding tied to the original use.

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