THOMASVILLE- During regular session on Monday, February 10, 2025, the Thomasville City Council voted to accept a grant for over $19.8 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The grant, which is in partnership with the Thomasville Community Development Corporation (TCDC), was one of 105 applications nationwide for the Community Change Grants Program.

Thomasville’s grant will provide $9 million to be used by the City of Thomasville for replacement of aged infrastructure at the wastewater collection system. TCDC will use $7.8 million for renovation of the Douglass School gymnasium and ancillary buildings to serve as a community resilience hub for critical needs, including the construction of a federally qualified health clinic to serve area residents. An additional $2.35 million will be used for TCDC’s Home Improvement Grant program, providing upgrades to single-family and multi-family homes in the Dewey City, Fletcherville, and Stevens Street Historic Districts.

City Manager Chris White emphasized the significance of the grant for Thomasville’s future.

“This funding is a game-changer for our community,” he said. “It allows us to invest in critical infrastructure and sustainable solutions for long-term resilience and growth in Thomasville.”

TCDC project leaders noted that the Douglass High School Alumni Association were an important part of developing the resilience hub portion of the grant proposal and will retain ownership of the hub.

“All of this work is really centered around the hub at Douglass and builds on the public infrastructure and private investments recently made in the area,” said Earl Williams, TCDC Executive Director. “Historically, that neighborhood has been remarkably self-sufficient and resilient. We are working with community partners to restore that resilience.”

The EPA received approximately 2,700 applications for the Community Change Grants Program, with funding requests exceeding $40 billion. Cumulatively, these awarded grants total nearly $1.6 billion nationwide to advance local, on-the-ground projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity. Made possible by

President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Community Change Grants Program is the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history.

“Aged infrastructure improvements are at the top of our projects list in Thomasville,” noted White. “Being able to acquire funding to make some of those improvements as well as transform some of our under-invested neighborhoods makes these projects particularly important for our community.”

In addition to Thomasville, Troup County and Norcross were also selected for grant funding. For more information about the Community Change Grants Program, visit epa.gov.