Richland County needs residents’ help in developing a plan that identifies and addresses housing and community development needs.

Public input will be used to help Richland County Community Development staff create a Five Year Consolidated Plan, which is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order for Richland County to receive federal housing and community development funding. Community Development staff hope residents will engage in this planning process by attending an upcoming open house and offering comments about their housing experiences and other community issues.

“We are about to embark upon a new five-year plan that will govern us into the future,” said Valeria Jackson, Richland County Community Development Manager. “We need to know what residents’ needs are in their communities so we can best serve them with the available federal funding.”

The community workshops, which are a drop-in format, will be held as follows:

·         6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. May 8 at Spirit Communications Park, 1640 Freed St., Columbia (an information booth will be staffed inside the main entrance, prior to the start of the Fireflies game)

·         6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. May 8 at Richland Library Southeast, 7421 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia

·         6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. May 9 at Garners Ferry Adult Activity Center, 8614 Garners Ferry Road, Hopkins

·         5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. May 10 at the Decker Center, 2500 Decker Blvd., Columbia

Residents who attend the workshops can provide input to staff and will also be asked to fill out a survey. Spanish translation will be available at the meeting at the Decker Center on May 10.

For more information, call Richland County Community Development at 803-576-2230 or email jenningsj@rcgov.us.