“We are part of the solution to the housing crisis,” stated President of the Searles Foundation Philip Searles as he pushes forward with his affordable housing project in Fannin County.
Searles currently intends to develop 84 units of family housing on property that he has already purchased in Fannin County for $875,000. Sixty-five of those units will be reserved for people who only obtain 60% of the area medium income.
Searles said that “everything has been approved for the space,” in regards to city council. However, he has sent an application to the state that will provide “funding sources.”
When meeting qualifications to become a tenant, applicants do not have to be a local resident, but Searles said that they plan to do mostly local media to meet the desired demographic.
Searles gives much credit for the project being brought to Fannin County to Director of Development Marshall Akins and Executive Director of Housing Authority Traver Akins, both of which work for Searles. He stated, “I’ve been going to Blue Ridge since I was five years old...I really didn’t understand the issues affecting Fannin until hiring Marshall.” Within the first week of hiring Marshall, Searles made his way up to Blue Ridge. He went to Traver to find out exactly what the needs are in Fannin County to make a plan for how he could help.
Searles also adds that they have had “massive amounts of support,” for the current mayor, past city council members and new city council members. He also included Fannin County Family Connection to the list of supporters for the project and said, “they are a phenomenal organization.” He continued, “When I tell people about Family Connection, they are shocked to hear that this non-profit dispersed half-a-million pounds of food last year.”
Cindy Trimble and Greg Arnold have also helped Searles with his project. He stated, “They both have contributed their time and talents in making this development look and feel like a true Blue Ridge community...we want to create a vision that residents of Blue Ridge have for housing.”
“We feel confident that Blue Ridge, not only, is a great area for high-quality workforce housing, but also, the community has shown how supportive they are,” said Searles.
Searles wants to return community support and said, “It’s not a monetary issue...there’s a reason we’re a non-profit...we don’t put money ahead of what we try to accomplish.”
He finishes stating, “I do think that this is a wonderful program, and I know that we’re going to do the right job for Blue Ridge.”