Author: Admin

Global housing nonprofit Habitat for Humanity International is taking several actions to cut expenses in reaction to short- and long-term financial forecasts and operational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 10% of staff at the organization will be laid off, and several others will have their work hours reduced. The action will immediately impact its U.S.-based staff, and its regional offices throughout the world in the weeks to come. Among other expense reductions, senior leaders at the organization have elected to take a pay reduction.

“Habitat for Humanity is a ministry of people who share a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “For so many of our team, Habitat is not merely a job—it is a cause. It breaks our hearts to take these significant, but necessary, actions. We are compelled by the economic realities of this global pandemic, and by our responsibility to steward Habitat for Humanity so that we can resume serving our communities as quickly as is safe to do.”

Habitat for Humanity International is the umbrella organization of a federation of local and national Habitat programs operating in all 50 states and in more than 70 countries. Habitat for Humanity International brought in approximately US$300 million in revenue in fiscal year 2019, while the full network is estimated to have earned US$2.3 billion. The network served more than 7 million people last fiscal year, and has helped more than 29 million people access new or improved housing since its founding in 1976.

Habitat’s leadership team is taking the actions with the support of its board of directors, which met in March to discuss the situation.

Since the initial spread of the virus, Habitat has taken several proactive steps to suspend its operations to help prevent the transmission among its volunteers, staff and the people in the communities it serves. These measures have had immediate financial impacts for the organization. Global economic turbulence has also led the donor-funded nonprofit to significantly revise its revenue projections. Many of the local and national Habitat organizations—also facing significant funding shortfalls—have already made similar expense reductions.

Habitat has established a COVID-19 Critical Operations Fund to help safeguard its mission and business continuity efforts. The organization will also soon launch a fundraising campaign — Homes, Communities, Hope + You — which will help the full Habitat network raise support to continue its service.

The Regions Foundation, a nonprofit initiative of Regions Bank that supports community investments, on Friday announced a series of grants in support of organizations throughout the Southeast and Texas that are helping people and businesses severely impacted by COVID-19.

Two nonprofits in North Georgia are among those receiving grants:

Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE): ACE is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that specializes in small-business funding and business advisory services. The organization is currently coordinating with clients, government and corporate partners on a variety of COVID-19 relief initiatives for businesses. ACE is supported by grants and other forms of funding from banks, foundations, government entities and corporations to assist in its mission to help underserved business owners. ACE is receiving a $25,000 grant from the Regions Foundation.

United Way of Greater Atlanta: United Way of Greater Atlanta joined the Community Foundation for Greater Atlantato launch the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund. The fund is in place to support a wide range of organizations throughout the area that are helping many people in communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and its economic consequences. The fund is receiving a $50,000 grant from the Regions Foundation.

“Our communities are facing an unprecedented challenge, and, likewise, we are seeing an unprecedented response from nonprofits that are coming together to connect people with vital information, resources and guidance,” said Bill Linginfelter, Atlanta Market Executive for Regions Bank. “Regions is honored to support their mission as part of our comprehensive approach toward serving the communities where we live and work.”

“We appreciate the Regions Foundation’s commitment to small-business recovery and trust in ACE as a partner to help enable it,” added Grace Fricks, President and CEO of ACE. “We have contacted our loan clients and offered payment deferments while also creating an emergency financing option for our borrowers, including women, people of color and people with low to moderate incomes. Our goal is to get through this crisis – together.”

“Thank you to Regions Foundation for their generous contribution to the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund,” said Milton J. Little Jr., President and CEO of United Way of Greater Atlanta. “Their contribution will go directly to supporting nonprofit organizations and other agencies focused on providing crucial services to our communities, including seniors, families with children who normally receive free or reduced-price meals at school, families in need of childcare, homeowners and renters at risk for eviction, and hourly/low-wage workers.”

The Regions Foundation is identifying additional organizations for financial support, and more grants will be announced in the coming weeks. In addition, the Foundation recently announced it will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations by Regions Bank associates to United Way chapters and Community Foundations responding to COVID-19 needs.

There are numerous investment opportunities in real estate. Among them, Airbnb real estate investing has become one of the more popular options. In just a few years, short-term rentals have…

One of the keys to making money in real estate is securing the ideal financing. In fact, the financing option that you choose might be the most consequential factor when…

There is no doubt that investing in real estate is one of the best ways of making money. Many of the world’s richest people amassed their wealth from real estate.…

Health officials will visit randomly selected residents in DeKalb and Fulton counties April 28-May 4 to perform voluntary blood tests to see if they have already been infected with the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. The tests will help officials understand how widely the COVID-19 pandemic has spread.

The antibody testing will be conducted by teams from the Georgia Department of Public Health in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the DeKalb and Fulton boards of health.

“We encourage everyone who is visited by the teams to participate in this very important survey that can help public health officials assess how widespread COVID-19 is in certain areas,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey in a press release announcing the testing. “This is another way that Georgians can play a role in helping fight this virus.”

The teams will visit “randomly selected homes in different areas of Fulton and DeKalb counties,” according to the press release. Participation is voluntary. No one else will be allowed to be tested. The testing teams will wear CDC vests and CDC badges, and will have an “official letter” from the CDC and DPH.

Household members will be asked to answer survey questions and provide a blood sample to be tested for antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Antibodies are produced when someone has previously been infected with COVID-19.

According to DPH, the test cannot determine if a person has an active COVID-19 infection at the time the sample is taken. The antibodies typically take one to three weeks to develop. The antibody test can help identify people who were infected but didn’t have symptoms or weren’t tested for COVID-19.

DeKalb and Fulton were chosen because community transmission of confirmed COVID-19 cases is occuring there.

For more information about the serosurvey, see the DPH website at dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-antibody-testing.

For general information about antibody testing, also known as serology testing, see the CDC website at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/serology-testing.html.

The post CDC and state want to test randomly selected DeKalb and Fulton residents for COVID-19 antibodies appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s controversial move to allow restaurant dining rooms to reopen starting Monday, April 27, doesn’t mean your favorite spot will be following that order. Not yet, anyway.

The governor’s order requires restaurants to follow 39 guidelines, including screening employees for signs of illness, requiring all employees to wear masks, and limiting capacity to no more than 10 patrons per 500 square feet in the dining rooms. You can download Kemp’s order with all the guidelines at this link.

Waffle House is one notable exception, announcing last week that it would begin reopening for dine-in service on Monday. Call or check online to see if your favorite  location is open.

However, many local restaurants have posted on social media that they will remain closed except for delivery or takeout.

Two of Atlanta’s institutions – Manuel’s Tavern in Poncey-Highland and The Colonnade on Cheshire Bridge Road – both posted on Facebook that they will remain closed for now.

“”My phone has been blowing up with tons of questions from staff and regular customers asking if we’re going to open on Monday. The answer is no,” Manuel’s owner Brian Maloof posted.

Manuel’s has been completely closed since the pandemic began, but plans to start offering takeout soon. “We will continue doing to-go only until I’m convinced that it’s safe to open the tavern back up completely; it may be several weeks or longer. Don’t hate us for being safe,” Maloof said.

The post Most restaurants will keep dining rooms closed despite governor’s reopening order appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

The May issue of Atlanta INtown is a digital-only edition. We made the decision not to produce the printed publication with the health and safety of our staff and suppliers foremost in mind. INtown will return to print in June, so look for your copy as usual next month. In the meantime, this issue is available to read on your phone, tablet, or computer. Inside you’ll find all new reporting on how parents and students are adapting to learning at home, how recently opened Elemental Sprits Co. navigated the pandemic, Emory University’s mission to feed frontline healthcare workers, arts organizations making masks, and new Above the Waterline and TimmyDaddy columns.

Listen to editor Collin Kelley discuss the May issue in special INtown Insider podcast at the link below.

The post Read INtown’s special online-only issue for May, plus a podcast from the editor appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has cast a shadow of uncertainty over most economic sectors across the globe, including real estate. Prior to COVID-19’s arrival, the Michigan…