Fewer Homeless, But Not Enough Shelter

A federal report shows Georgia's large homeless population shrank between 2007 and 2008, but found there was not enough shelter space available statewide and more than half of Georgia's homeless go unsheltered. The 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Thursday, found there were 19,095 homeless people living in Georgia in 2008. That's down from 19,639 in 2007. The report also found Georgia was one of only eight states where the majority of homeless were unsheltered. It found 54 percent of Georgia's homeless were typically unsheltered, but said warm weather may encourage homeless to sleep outdoors. According to the report, there are 13,936 beds available for homeless statewide.

(Associated Press)

Feds ok $3.92 b housing grant for Ga.

(Courtesy RealtyTrac)

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has given Georgia a $153 million grant, to help ease the foreclosure blight.

The state will get about half the sum, with nine cities and counties divvying up the remainder.

The funds are part of HUD’s $3.92 billion national Neighborhood Stabilization Program, enacted in July.

The initiative aims to brake the spreading economic damage from home foreclosures, and strengthen property values in affected neighborhoods.

The money will allow state and local authorities to buy foreclosed or abandoned homes from the banks, renovate, and then sell or rent them to mainly moderate and low-income buyers.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the foreclosure debacle.

Nat'l Fair Housing Comm. calls for better enforcement

Forty years after lawmakers targeted some of the last bastions of segregation - American communities - a national commission met today in Atlanta to discuss whether federal officials have failed to ensure equal housing opportunities.

The bipartisan National Fair Housing Commission's daylong meeting at Morehouse College Friday concludes a three-month investigation into enforcement of fair housing laws.

Today’s meeting focused on fair lending practices amid the nationwide foreclosure crisis.

Shanna Smith is president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance:

“Over the last 40 years, we have failed as a government, as states, as local communities, to enforce the fair housing laws and to promote social integration.”

Henry Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997, under President Clinton chaired the morning session.

Cisneros says that a comprehensive solution may be necessary for the Atlanta area:

“This is a metropolitan area that needs to function as a whole, and it may be necessary to think in regional solutions that involve all of the counties, excepting some fair share of responsibility for creating economic opportunities.”

The panel, chaired by Henry Cisneros (center), former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development hear testimony at the morning session, held at Morehouse College, Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 17th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

The commission previously convened in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Boston.

A December report will outline recommendations to strengthen housing laws.

(With The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of housing issues.

Public housing residents may lose home to medical school expansion

Residents of a public housing facility in eastern Georgia may lose their home soon.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday okayed a proposed sale of the apartments to the Medical College of Georgia for a planned expansion.

The deal means the city of Augusta will have to move about 260 families out of Gilbert Manor Apartments by April. The move has to happen before the property is sold.

MCG plans to build a new dental school there and buildings that will house some of the school's core programs. Officials also say the property may eventually house additional buildings for research, technology transfer and economic development.

Residents have mixed feelings about the move.

Keisha Tanksley has lived in the public housing complex for five years and wants to see it go.

"This place is old and worn out. It’s a better opportunity for people who want to move...get out of the hood, the project," she said.

Gilbert Manor has no central heat or air conditioning. It was built in 1941.

Officials say renovating it would cost too much.

The deal is expected to cost M-C-G about $6.9 million.

Officials will use the money to build communities that will house people of varying incomes.

For now, they’ll move the residents into other public housing. Other tenants will receive vouchers to help pay for homes that are not in public housing complexes.

But some residents don’t want to leave.

They’re considering litigation to try and stop the sale.

The deal, meanwhile, has no bearing on whether MCG will open a branch campus in Athens.

The school is currently reviewing its expansion options, which has caused some political controversy. Governor Sonny Perdue (R) wants the Athens campus, while politicians from the area want to see expansion in Augusta. They fear expansion elsewhere will mean a cut in revenue and economic development opportunities.

MCG's president, Dan Rahn, suggested Friday that there is room to grow both in Augusta and elsewhere.

"We need to maximize what we can do here on our home campus and also engage in partnerships around the state in order to provide the best education for the future doctors of the state," said Rahn.

MCG officials will make their recommendations on expansion to the state Board of Regents on January 15.