Location: Have an active lease within the City of Atlanta limits.
Income: Household income ≤ 80% of Area Median Income (AMI).
Employment: At least one adult employed full‑time.
Housing cost load: Rent-to-income ratio ≤ 50%.
Hardship: Experienced a recent, unexpected hardship (i.e., medical expenses, job loss, family crisis, natural disaster).
Supporting materials applicants will submit: Lease, rent ledger, income verification, hardship documentation, monthly budget, and a 90‑second video introducing themselves and their goals for our program.
Rental assistance for up to 12 months
Financial education and workshops
Regular goal‑setting and check‑ins
Referrals to community resources
Wealth Building Rewards access with savings incentives
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Step 1: Open Nominations (Oct 31–Nov 14)
Families can self‑nominate or be nominated by neighbors, community leaders, employers, or service providers.
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Step 2: Minimum Eligibility Screening
Self-nominees will complete a brief screening that covers location, lease, income, and employment information.
If nominated by someone else, nominees will receive an email to complete the same brief screening questions.
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Step 3: Full Application (Due November 18th)
Nominees will then be verified to meet minimum eligibility criteria and, if eligible, will be emailed a full application.
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Step 4: Interviews
A group of finalists will then be selected from the applications. Finalists will be asked to join a 30-minute staff interview and a 30-minute panel interview with FreeRent.Org leadership
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Step 5: Soft Credit & Background Checks
With consent, we will also run a soft credit pull (no score impact) and a background check of finalists to support our program goals and final evaluation.
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Step 6: 2026 Recipients Announced
We will make a final program selection and announce our recipients in January 2026 for the program start date of February 2026.
