Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH)

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The Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (“Initiative” or “GICH”) offers communities a three-year program of collaboration and technical assistance related to housing and community development. The objective of the Initiative is to help communities create and launch a locally based plan to meet their housing needs.

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  • Hello current GICH communities and alumni!

    These are the applications for Alumni Certification and the new GICH Senior Year Program. These are separate applications and you do not have to fill out one to fill out the other. To apply for GICH Senior Year, you must be certified. If you are planning to apply for GICH Senior Year but are not currently certified, please submit an alumni certification application first. If you meet the qualifications, you will be eligible to apply for GICH Senior Year.

    Alumni Certification

    Important dates for alumni certification are listed below. You will also find the Zoom link for the webinar is linked below. Please submit your applications to the email Gich@dca.ga.gov.

    • Application Webinar - Tuesday, January 30th, 2024 - 10 A.M.
    • Alumni Certification due date - Friday, March 29th, 2024

    Alumnic Certification Zoom Webinar

    Alumni Certification Form

    GICH Senior Year

    Important dates for GICH Senior Year are listed below. The GICH Senior Year webinar will be hosted on Zoom and is linked below. You will answer the questions and add your attachments in the online application. It is a Jot Form application.

    • GICH Senior Year Webinar - Monday, January 8th, 2020 - 10 A.M.
    • GICH Senior Year Application due date - Thursday, February 29th, 2024

    Senior Year Zoom Webinar

    Senior Year Application

     

    For any questions, please email our DCA partners at gich@dca.ga.gov, or Dr. Jermaine Durham at Jermaine.Durham@uga.edu.

  • (Atlanta November 2023) GICH Senior Year is a new, competitive program for GICH Certified Alumni Communities with a mission to holistically invest affordable housing funds into Georgia communities based on their strategic vision.  The goal for The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is to braid targeted investments in 1-2 targeted and competitively selected alumni communities. Those braided investments may include guaranteed awards or strong competitive advantage within LIHTC, CHIP, and CDBG.  As an expansion of the GICH curriculum, participants will receive targeted technical assistance and education from DCA and other housing and community development experts on how to best implement their communities housing plans. Participants will also be eligible to receive select DCA funding resources that result in direct housing investments. Two awardees will be selected for the first two-year cohort, and applications will be released later this year.

    GICH Senior Year will be a competitive program. Selection will follow a similar process to the initial GICH award, with an initial application round open to all active GICH communities, followed by a final candidate pool for in person visits that will determine final award(s). Once final awards are determined, a targeted technical assistance panel will be identified and implemented to build on community vision and prepare DCA funds in support of braided DCA awards.

    GICH Senior Year will provide participating communities with a full suite of DCA programs and allow communities to build capacity to plan for and administer DCA funds and to solicit and select development partners. Communities will receive intentional investments in affordable rental and for sale housing paired with community amenities. The long-term goals for the GICH Senior Award is to demonstrate to the state the transformative value of integrated housing strategies that maximize combined impact of DCA programs, build a stronger ecosystem that addresses critical community housing issues, and enhances benefits of community stability and increased incomes.