The City of Rome, Georgia and the Northwest Georgia Housing Authority (NWGHA) has recently received a Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI) Planning Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to study how to provide better housing, improved schools and youth programs, additional educational opportunities, better transportation, and access to jobs to the residents of the East Rome community. This Plan will also address how to best revitalize the distressed the John Graham Homes and build off of other local efforts such as the demolition of the
former Altoview Terrace Homes to help make East Rome a better place to live. We invite everyone to be a part of this exciting action-oriented process.
What do we plan to achieve with the Choice Neighborhood grant?
The grant will be used to bring the community and planning partners together to create a viable and actionable Transformation Plan for the East Rome Neighborhood, which can be executed with or without a CNI Implementation award.
What is the Planning Area’s boundary?
The Planning Area is bounded by the Norfolk Southern Railroad to the west, 12th Street to the north, Flannery Street to the east and the highway to the south.
How will this project affect residents in the neighborhood?
We want your help in creating the Plan and we want you to work with us to figure out how we can improve the quality of your life through improved housing, increased job opportunities, better services and infrastructure, and healthier commercial areas.
How long do you anticipate this planning process will take?
The process to create the East Rome Choice Neighborhoods Plan will take about two years and will be completed in January 2022.
How can this benefit the neighborhood in the short-term?
The planning team has dedicated approximately $50,000 to identify and build an “early action project” in the Summer of 2020 that will have an immediate positive benefit for the community. In addition, ideas from this planning process will be evaluated and one will be selected as an “action project” to receive approximately $1,000,000 in funding. We need your involvement to help come up with these important ideas!
Does the planning process include construction of new housing?
No, this process ONLY involves planning and the implementation of smaller “early action projects” and “action projects.” Construction of housing, retail, and other larger improvements would happen later based on community input.
Our Planning Team makes the following commitments:
One-for-one replacement
John Graham Homes includes 150 units of low-income housing. The East Rome Choice Neighborhoods Plan will seek to replace 100% of those housing units within the neighborhood as part of any new developments.
Right to return
Former residents of the John Graham Homes will be given tenant-based vouchers or relocated to other housing developments. If desired, these residents will have the first choice to live in new revitalized housing units once constructed.
Working together with former tenants
The City and the NWGHA will work directly with former tenants and people on NWGHA’S waiting list every step of the way to ensure that the needs of each resident are met.
Are there resident hiring opportunities as part of this process?
Yes, we are looking to identify a set of Community Ambassadors to assist with resident engagement, data gathering and Plan feedback. Ambassadors will be provided a stipend for their effort.
How can I stay informed or get involved?
Residents and community members are invited to attend meetings, share thoughts, and encourage others to do the same. A Housing Preference Survey and a Needs Assessment Survey will also be distributed to gather important data for the project. This is your Plan and we want you involved.
We invite you to view and download our FAQ printable version
eastromechoice.com 