Thomasville CDBG funding request denied

THOMASVILLE — The city of Thomasville has been notified that the grant application that was submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for a Community Development Block Grant will not be funded this year. The grant was intended to assist with housing improvements to the Fletcherville community. The CDBG program is a federally funded program that focuses on providing resources for livable neighborhoods, economic empowerment and improved housing.

“We are disappointed that our grant was not selected for funding this year, as we had hoped to use this grant to help continue the improvements in the Fletcherville community,” Kenneth Thompson, Thomasville’s city planner, said in a news release. “Ultimately, this is a competitive grant process. The review committee just felt there were other projects that were a priority this year. We believe our application can be strengthened, so our focus will now turn to identifying other grant opportunities for which we qualify.”

CDBG funding in the amount of $750,000 was previously received for this neighborhood, which is being used to provide infrastructure improvements.

“We are using the 2017 CDBG funding to address water, wastewater, street and drainage improvements along Fletcher Street, Andrews Street, Magnolia Street, Augusta Avenue and Lester Street,” Thompson said. “More than 650 Thomasville residents will benefit from these improvements.”

The most recent CDBG application was focused on housing improvements. The 2019 application was developed with the assistance of residents in the community who completed pre-qualification applications.

“We appreciate the assistance residents provided in helping us gather the information that was required to complete the grant application,” Thompson said. “We will now use the data we’ve gathered to help us identify alternative funding sources for this project.”

For more information about the CDBG grant, call (229) 227-7001.

File Photo