Augusta getting $3.87 million for affordable housing

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Augusta is in line for nearly $4 million in federal funding for affordable housing.

The money is available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Planning and Development grant programs.

The money for Augusta-Richmond County includes:

$1,725,408 in community development block grant money. The program funds efforts to build housing and a suitable living environment and expand economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income people.
$1,083,350 in HOME grants. Often in partnership with nonprofits, these grants fund efforts to buy, build or rehabilitate affordable housing or provide direct rental assistance to low-income people.
$152,110 in emergency solutions grant money. The program provides the first response to people with a housing crisis and engages people living on the streets.
$910,893 in money for HOPWA, a program to offer stable and permanent housing assistance and support services for low-income people with HIV.

The funds were announced Friday by Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who said they secured the money for Augusta and 26 other communities in the state.

“Housing is stability. Housing is dignity. Housing is critical infrastructure,” Warnock said. “These robust federal investments in our state’s housing infrastructure will make it more affordable for hardworking Georgians at every income bracket to find better, more cost-effective housing.”