ATLANTA — Governor Brian Kemp released the fourth round of Rural Workforce Housing grant recipients this week. Over $10.3 million will be split among five Georgia communities, including one in metro Atlanta.
The communities that received grants are:
- City of Gainesville - $2,500,000
- City of Blackshear - $2,450,000
- Development Authority of Bulloch County - $2,437,520
- City of Reidsville - $1,650,351
- City of Sylvester - $1,321,523
All of these cities are also contributing funds towards their designated projects.
In Gainesville, the money will be spent on drainage infrastructure improvements for two local developments. The Gainesville Nonprofit Development Foundation plans to build 17-23 single-family homes with its portion of the grant money, and the Norton Agency plans to construct 66 rental housing units. The City of Gainesville will be contributing $3,839,675 to the project as well.
The grant money was approved as part of the Governor's Rural Workforce Housing Initiative, which began in 2023.
Initially, the Georgia General Assembly approved $35.7 million to start the initiative. Since then, the General Assembly has approved an additional $50 million in the amended Fiscal Year 2024 budget and $6 million for the Fiscal Year 2025.
Applications for the grant are available here and are accepted quarterly on the second Friday of January, April, July and October.