Georgia Initiative for Community Housing

GICH helps communities improve their quality of life and economic vitality through the development of locally-based housing and revitalization strategies. This is achieved through:

• Technical assistance
• Collaboration
• Expert presenters
• Training
• Facilitation
• Consensus building
• Networking
• Mentoring

What you'll do

During the three-year program of technical assistance and cross-community sharing, participating community housing teams will:

• Attend two retreats a year with other participating communities
• Identify issues and needs, available resources, and potential obstacles
• Develop new ideas about meeting local housing needs and enhancing community development
• Learn about best practices and available resources and funding for housing and community development
• Produce a community housing plan with objectives and goals
• Begin implementation of the action plan

What you can achieve

The following are some examples of initiatives that have been undertaken by communities as a result of their participation in GICH:

• Targeted a distressed neighborhood for revitalization
• Developed multi-family tax credit apartments
• Redeveloped a failed subdivision
• Revised out-dated codes and ordinances and adopted new ones
• Increased code enforcement
• Removed abandoned or dilapidated homes
• Created a Land Bank Authority or Community Land Trust
• Obtained first CDBG and CHIP grants
• Developed a rehabilitation program
• Provided housing counseling and down payment assistance
• Completed sewer/water infrastructure improvements
• Wrote and adopted an Urban Redevelopment Plan
• Created a Redevelopment Authority
• Obtained Opportunity Zone designation
• Conducted a housing assessment and windshield survey
• Partnered with Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together, Work Camp, churches
• Convened neighborhood clean-up days
• Established neighborhood watch programs
• Launched an education/public awareness campaign

What must interested communities do?

Visit How to Apply

Download a printable brochure

GICH in Community News

GICH: Teaming up to clean up local neighborhoods - July 12, 2017 (Dublin, GA)