Sandy Springs Together

Everyone Deserves a Voice

Research Library

Complacency is acceptance: Civic action is needed to protect housing affordability

For many months now, Sandy Springs Together has been educating the community about the dangers of losing our workforce housing — the housing affordable for teachers, officers, nurses and others. 

We have also shared what surrounding communities are doing. We understand that our lives can get busy, making it easy to lose our focus and get distracted. It happens to each and every one of us.

But, we must do more. 

So, we offer a challenge: If we do nothing, we are, in fact, doing something.

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Sandy Springs Together asked to write an op-ed on the future of Sandy Springs

The founders of Sandy Springs Together, David and Melanie Couchman, were asked by the Sandy Springs Reporter to write an op-ed on the future of Sandy Springs. We took this opportunity to lay out our vision of the future of our city. 

“For the first time, the children of working families are less likely to do better than their parents. This problem is impacting middle-income families, including teachers and first responders. From 2011 to 2016, rents rose at five times the rate of a family’s income. Young families, with rents taking more than 50% of their income, can’t save for a home down payment, and with high home prices and student loan debt, many don’t qualify for mortgages, disrupting a natural progression to home ownership.

Apartments are an asset: Given today’s land-acquisition and construction costs, many cities have created policies and incentives to protect this valuable resource and the families living there.  Forward-thinking cities realize that existing apartments are a necessary component of a growing and thriving community.

We encourage our city to do the same. Together we can do this.”

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Sandy Springs Together highlighted in latest issue of Southeastern Council of Foundations magazine

The work of Sandy Springs Together was recently featured in a profile written by Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF).

SECF is a “membership association of more than 360 grant-makers working together to strengthen, promote and increase philanthropy in 11 Southeastern states, including here in Georgia”. The magazine article highlights outstanding philanthropic work across the southeastern United States.

In the article, titled “Bringing People to the Table” by Peter Panepento, the Couchmans’ outline their work with Sandy Springs Together and the vision they have for the future of the city of Sandy Springs.

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