AMERICUS — An Americus-Sumter County community housing team that was formed in conjunction with the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) was notified last week that they will receive a $15,000 grant. The funds will cover the costs associated with a housing needs analysis in the community. The housing team was eligible for the grant because Americus and Sumter County and the Sumter Archway partnership joined together in applying for participation in GICH and was formally designated as a GICH community in November 2009.

According to Sumter Archway Professional Barbara Grogan, GICH offers communities a three-year program of collaboration and technical assistance related to housing and community development. The local community housing team was organized to assess the current housing situation and future housing needs of the community, keeping in mind future growth and population. As part of the collaboration, the Americus-Sumter County housing team attended a two-day retreat in February with 14 other housing teams from across the state.

Grogan said that during the retreat, the housing team identified two key elements essential to completing a housing inventory and needs analysis.

“The goal is to ascertain if the housing supply meets demand, not only in quantity, but also in quality,” said Grogan.

The River Valley Regional Commission, which was instrumental in the grant application, will begin work on the inventory in the near future.

In the second component of the analysis, the housing team will be working with the University of Georgia Demographics Research Center (HDRC) to conduct a survey to determine the type of housing the community would like to have available for both rent and purchase. The team anticipates surveying around 10,000 Sumter County residents to ensure accurate representation in populations in the community.

Once the data from the two studies is gathered, the housing team will begin work to identify future housing needs and learn whether or not the housing supply and demand are comparable.

“I think we are going to find that our demand will not meet our supply and we are going to have to consider more development,” Grogan said.