City funding affordable housing initiative for first responders

On Monday, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution authorizing $250,000 for the Community Safety Housing Program (CSHP), an affordable housing initiative for first responders.

The amount supplements a separate $250,000 that was previously appropriated in the 2025 budget.

CSHP offers rental assistance to fire, corrections, and police personnel. Participants must live inside city limits and complete off-duty community service hours. In exchange, they receive up to $850 in monthly rental assistance.

The program was funded in its first year as a pilot using $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The city’s $500,000 allocation ensures that the program can continue in the absence of additional federal funding.

District 2 Councilmember Amir Farokhi authored the legislation in addition to working with the administration and nonprofit partners to design the program. He says that CSHP is a policy victory on multiple fronts and a trendsetter.

“This is a win for affordable housing, community policing, and public safety,” Farokhi said in a press release. “It’s a rare day when you can check so many boxes at once. It’s a national model for attracting and retaining public safety personnel. It’s nice for our city to be at the vanguard here.”

The Atlanta Police Foundation administers the initiative. According to its Chief Operating Officer Greg McNiff, the organization has been thrilled with the level of engagement with CSHP in its first year.

“We are ecstatic about the overwhelming response and involvement we’ve seen since the program’s launch,” said McNiff. “In our first year alone, we provided housing assistance to 50 fire, corrections, and police personnel. And the demand is so high that we have a waiting list that continues to grow.”

Farokhi says that everyone has been surprised by the immediacy of the program’s positive effects.

“I was optimistic that a housing program like this would make public safety careers more attractive, but I don’t think any of us expected to see such rapid results,” said Farokhi. “For instance, we’ve seen a year over year increase in police recruitment and retention of 15 percent since we launched. And I believe we’ll see similarly positive trend lines among the corrections and fire communities as well.”

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