DECATUR, Ga. — With affordable housing in short supply, one program offering financial help is no longer taking on new applicants, but there are some other options that can help people out.
Residents of DeKalb County now have one less option when seeking help to pay the rent. The DeKalb Tenant-Landlord Assistance Coalition will no longer accept applications after today.
Natallie Keiser works at HouseATL, a coalition dedicated to finding ways to get more affordable housing in and around metro Atlanta.
“Federal funding, that emergency assistance that was available due to the COVID pandemic there is now a gap that is difficult to fill," Keiser said.
Keiser explained now that federal money is drying up and forcing programs to stop accepting new applicants, many organizations are relying on the generosity of private donors.
One nonprofit, called the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Healthcare Improvement or ARCHI, has come up with an easier way for people to connect with the help they need.
“They don’t have to go to this nonprofit and that nonprofit to find where they can qualify for assistance," Keiser said. "Instead there’s just one common application that multiple nonprofits receive."
Today at a housing forum in Atlanta, city leaders and members of the community met to talk about zoning issues and affordable housing.
Renter Alexandra Kleinberg said there’s no magical solution to solve the area’s housing affordability issue, but she sees a need for more programs that can fill in the gap.
“There’s not one key thing that’s gonna work and that’s why we need all of these different programs and levels of assistance to help regular people, the renters and low-income people," Kleinberg said.