The Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) has chosen the Waycross-Ware County Community Housing Initiative (WWCHI) as one of only five communities in the state to participate in its 2025 program.
WWCHI is spearheaded by the Rev. Katherine Brinson of Grace Episcopal Church who assembled the team of volunteers who comprise WWCHI. The group is committed to spending the next three years receiving training in creating affordable housing.
Becoming a GICH community entitles Waycross and Ware County to a large number of incentives for housing development including grant opportunities.
“Being certified as GICH community is a dream come true!” said City Commissioner and WWCHI member Katrena Felder. “It’s important to understand becoming certified was over a year long process and involved many dedicated members from all sectors of our community.”
Added Initiative member Ken Taft: “We are experiencing a nationwide housing affordability crisis. Much of the available affordable housing in our community is older and of substandard quality. The Waycross-Ware County Housing Initiative aims to help alleviate these problems through utilizing federal and state incentives to construct and rehabilitate affordable housing in our community.”
During their three years of GICH training, members of WWCHI will learn strategies to develop affordable housing such as adaptive reuse of existing structures, promoting home ownership, creating quality affordable rental housing, and revitalizing and transforming neighborhoods, among other things.
“The housing team will work with developers to implement plans tailored to the needs of our community,” said Taft.
Kristie Anderson, a broker with Honeyland Properties and WWCHI member brings a real estate perspective to the group.
“For housing to be affordable, it should represent no more than 30 percent of a household’s after-tax income. The median income in Ware County is $44,138, meaning a household with that income should spend no more than $667 per month on rent or mortgage,” she said. “However, median rent in Ware County is $900 per month and the median sales price of residential properties is $175,000 with a mortgage payment of $1,450 per month.”
Felder, Commissioner for District 3, pointed to the impact housing can have on the cycle of poverty that plagues many families.
“Having this GICH certification empowers citizens in both the City of Waycross and Ware County to eradicate the cycle of poverty and improve the quality of life,” she said. “It is a step toward achieving affordable housing, upward mobility and economic prosperity.”
