For Immediate Release
Date: February 13, 2015

At a luncheon today, Mayor Edna Jackson joined with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) and area bank officials to announce that the affordable housing partnership “Banking Works, Savannah!” will return to Savannah in 2015.

Under the 2015 partnership, FHLBank Atlanta and the City of Savannah have committed grant funds totaling $600,000, that will primarily provide income-eligible Savannah households with down payment assistance for the purchase of homes. Income-eligible households may also access grant funds to assist with the rehabilitation of a currently owned home.

“This is a great day for our city as we continue to build partnerships that bring much needed private investment to deserving, limited income, Savannah households,” said Mayor Jackson. “Not only does this investment improve the lives of participants, but it also helps stabilize neighborhoods.”

The City projects that the 2015 “Banking Works, Savannah!” partnership with FHLBank Atlanta and its member financial institutions will leverage more than $4 million in home purchase and rehabilitation activity for approximately 50 deserving Savannah households.

“The FHLBank Atlanta mission is to better enable our member financial institutions to make affordable home mortgages and extend credit into their communities,” said Arthur Fleming, Senior Vice President and Director of Community Investment Services at FHLBank Atlanta. “One of the ways that we achieve that mission is to connect our members with local governments like the City of Savannah to support them as they build communities, stimulate the local economy and improve the lives of their citizens.”

“Banking Works, Savannah!” is a unique public-private partnership between the City of Savannah and FHLBank Atlanta. The initiative leverages much needed new investment for affordable and workforce housing. This has become increasingly important as traditional federal funding for housing has declined in recent years.

For more information about this program, please contact the City of Savannah, Department of Housing, at 912-651-6926.