‘Neighbor to Neighbor’ program aims to help those living in neighborhoods near Atlanta BeltLine

ATLANTA — Those living in neighborhoods on, or near, the Atlanta BeltLine may soon get a knock on the door.

A new program is launching to help homeowners and renters pay rising bills and connect them to resources that can help.

Affordable housing has been a huge concern along the BeltLine.

That’s why a new partnership just announced Wednesday morning will target 20 neighborhoods on Atlanta’s westside and southside that expect to see property values, taxes, and rents jump as the BeltLine is completed.

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Workers will be canvassing from the Old Fourth Ward to Capitol View, Peoplestown to Pittsburgh, and beyond.

“Neighbor to Neighbor” will launch in Atlanta as workers in bright yellow vests hit the streets, going door-to-door.

The program is a partnership of Rocket Mortgage’s “Rocket Community Fund,” Partnership for Southern Equity, and Atlanta BeltLine Partnership.

“I appreciate your outreach efforts for sure. This is going to be a great partnership and will help educate our residents and also protect our legacy residents and empower our communities across Atlanta,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said during the announcement of the program.

Their goal is to talk to homeowners and renters to simplify a complex and sometimes inequitable system, prevent displacement and anyone losing their home due to rising costs, and get them the resources they need to keep safe and stable housing.

“Let’s talk to each other, let’s be informed, let’s talk about existing resources in a trusting and positive way,” Laura Grannemann with Rocket Community Fund said.

Rocket saw success working in their home market of Detroit and other northern cities.

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But Atlanta is their first “Neighbor to Neighbor” city in the south, where they really saw a need.

They’ll build the program here by going directly to the people they’re trying to serve.

“We go door to door and start by talking to the residents who are affected by the programs that exist,” Grannemann said.

That could include everything from paying your property tax bill, help with a down payment or rental assistance to legal services.

They say many of those resources are out there right now, but many may not know about them.

That’s why anywhere from 75-100 canvassers will be out trying to reach at least 20,000 households starting this month.

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