Media Advisories

Mayor’s Office of Communications
55 Trinity Avenue, Suite 2500 • Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Mayor Andre Dickens Announces Faith-Based Development Initiative Pre-Development Forgivable Loan Fund

ATLANTA—Mayor Andre Dickens announced the launch of a $500,000 forgivable loan program as part of the City of Atlanta’s Faith-Based Development Initiative (FBDI). This funding opportunity will support affordable housing creation on sites owned by faith institutions. Through the forgivable loan fund, approximately 20 to 25 partner projects will be funded and support site due diligence such as appraisal, survey, architectural renderings and other allowable costs.

“By partnering with places of worship to develop underutilized land owned by faith-based groups, we are leveraging even more tools to reach our Administration’s goal to build or preserve 20,000 units of affordable housing,” said Mayor Dickens. “Faiths of all backgrounds have the unifying thread of service to their community, so I thank these partners in advance because great things happen when we all come together for the good of the people.”

The FBDI program was launched in February 2022 to connect faith-based organizations with resources and technical assistance to help bolster the activation of privately held land to create more affordable housing across Atlanta. The initiative has now provided technical assistance to more than 500 organizations and have seen 12 faith institutions move forward with affordable housing development efforts on their sites.

The forgivable loan is funded through the City’s Housing Trust Fund and will be administered by Invest Atlanta, with up to $25,000 available per project. This program is for properties within the city of Atlanta and the planned development must include affordable housing.

To apply, a partner profile as part of the Mayor’s Faith Based Development Initiative and funding application must be completed. Learn more about the Faith-based Development Initiative here.

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