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State housing agency outlines use of Helene disaster funds and housing grants; reports thousands of applications in pipeline
Summary
The Department of Community Affairs told the Appropriations subcommittee it has launched CDBG-DR programs after Hurricane Helene, reported $266 million in federal disaster recovery funding and said roughly 927 home-repair applications are active across 44 eligible counties.
Christopher Nunn of the Department of Community Affairs briefed the Appropriations Subcommittee on housing production and Hurricane Helene disaster recovery programs funded in the FY26 budget.
Nunn said DCA programs have created or preserved more than 29,000 senior and workforce housing units over five years and helped about 2,000 first-time homebuyers this year through the Georgia Dream program. He described recent budget additions: $750,000 for an accountable housing pilot, $500,000 to regional commissions, and $2 million one-time funding for the State Housing Trust Fund to leverage federal matching dollars.
On disaster recovery, Nunn said the state's Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) allocation for Hurricane Helene totals $266 million. The agency launched the homeownership repair program in July and opened additional rental rehab and community infrastructure tracks. To date DCA has received about "2,700 pre-applications" across the 44 eligible counties and has 927 active applications in progress and contractors mobilizing in many areas.
Nunn said DCA used initial state funds from the —1 Georgia account' to address urgent needs that do not fit the longer federal timeline; the FY26 allocation was meant in part to create match capacity that unlocked an additional $42.9 million in federal draws this year. "We were able to access about $42,900,000 in federal funds," he told the committee.
Why it matters: the programs accelerate roof and home repair, rental rehabilitation, and community infrastructure work in counties affected by Helene. Nunn said the next round of community applications has a December 10 deadline for one program and that DCA expects to announce next awards in early session follow-ups.
Next steps: DCA will continue processing CDBG-DR applications and report to the committee on the number and disposition of awards after the December application window closes.
