By Cynthia McNeal, FCS’s Director of Housing
It’s an exciting summer for our FCS housing staff. We are jumping into a new season of creating affordable housing through new construction!
FCS has consistently purchased blighted properties, vacant houses, and boarded up homes because we know the importance a stable and affordable home can have for a family and a neighborhood. We also know the valuable role housing plays in creating a flourishing community.
In recent years, we’ve focused on rehabbing these homes and then selling or renting them to new neighbors. But over the next few months, we will be building eight new homes from the ground up! For the first time since 2013, we are constructing on four empty lots and demolishing four vacant homes, and we’ll build new dwellings in their place.
It’s a rebirth!
Housing prices in our neighborhood and in Atlanta continue to rise, and the need for affordable housing is great. Right now the most practical and economical way for us to to create affordable housing is by building it. And we are fortunate to work with a builder who sees the value in keeping costs low.
New development sparks life in our neighborhood. Residents watch formerly vacant lots or rundown, empty houses make way for vibrant homes with active families. Overgrown lots become looked after yards. And desolate streets become the places of block parties and pick-up basketball.
I’m excited to see the growth and to meet new neighbors. And many of the current residents have shared my excitement for what’s to come. The potential to have a new nextdoor neighbor opens doors for community and the experience of shalom. This is a great improvement from living next to an abandoned, overgrown property!
Next time you’re in South Atlanta, keep an eye out for new construction. Our neighborhood is worth investing in. We at FCS believe that, and we want to show our neighbors that, too.
