A quarter of a billion dollars will soon be available for neighborhood-level improvements across Georgia.

Gov. Brian Kemp announced the new “Improving Neighborhood Outcomes in Disproportionally Impacted Communities” grant program Tuesday. The money will give hamlet-sized help to qualified neighborhoods for repairing parks, recreation facilities, sidewalks and access to healthy food.

The dollars come from federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to state communications staff, because these community elements have been shown to lower “levels of mortality and illness, both in regards to avoiding the spread of COVID-19 and other physical or mental ailments.”

The projects must sit within an area deemed by the federal government as a Difficult Development Area (a place with high costs for land/utilities and construction relative to the area median income) or eligible for a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit as determined by the feds in 1986.

Those interested which areas qualify can view a map on the state website at https://bit.ly/3KE8cSE.

The state will begin accepting applications starting on Sept. 1, which is three weeks before early voting begins in Kemp’s re-election bid against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

The grant application period ends Nov. 18, according to the news release. Each project may receive a maximum of $2 million.

Credit: WSBTV Videos

‘This is an attack on HBCUs’: Bomb threats continue as FBI investigation hits six months

About the Author

Keep Reading

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect there won't be enough employee parking at its headquarters on Clifton Road in Atlanta when all workers are required to return to work later this year. ALYSSA POINTER / ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM

Featured

State Rep. Matt Reeves, R-Duluth, introduces himself while attending an AAPI mental health event at Norcross High School on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

Credit: Ben Gray