The city of Norcross will provide $25,000 to start a program aimed at helping families get out of local extended stay motels and find more stable housing.
The city funding will be matched by the United Way of Greater Atlanta, meaning a total of $50,000 will be available to help selected families cover the deposit and first month’s rent necessary to secure a rental home or apartment.
About 20 families could be assisted, officials said.
“We are hoping that this pilot will allow us to show that, with minimal investment, we can assist these working families in securing permanent housing,” said Lejla Prljaca.
Prljaca is the executive director of the Gwinnett Housing Corporation and a co-founder of the affordable housing initiative called LiveNorcross.
LiveNorcross released a study over the summer that found that a large percentage of people staying at the city’s many extended stay motels were using the facilities as their place of residence. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed had lived at their motels for a year or more. Almost all had steady jobs and said they’d only temporary assistance to get out.
Many were spending as much on their motel rent as they would for a more secure apartment or home. That suggested that the residents would be able to pay for safer, more stable housing — and that the costs associated with motel living were preventing them from saving up for the deposits or first and last month's rent necessary to secure such housing.
The new “motel-to-home” program hopes to remedy that situation.
In addition to financial assistance to help move out of their respective motels, families selected for the program will receive ongoing mentoring to help ensure they keep more secure housing moving forward.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia will help administer the program and provide case management.
"Our council is committed to improving the quality of life for all who call Norcross home," Norcross Mayor Craig Newton said.
