Dissertation Title: A Case Study of the Forest Cove Apartments in the Thomasville Heights Neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia: The Public Health Implications of a Condemned Low-Income Housing Complex

Dissertation Chair: Carlos A. O. Pavão

Dissertation Abstract: Substandard public housing has a profound impact on families, communities, and society. This dissertation explores the public health implications of factors that led to the condemnation of the Forest Cove Apartments located in the Thomasville Heights neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The socio-ecological model will be utilized to frame relationships between policies and institutions, environmental conditions, community influences, interpersonal relationships, and aggregated individual factors related to the lifecycle of Forest Cove from conceptualization to condemnation. Data sources include population-level demographic data, historical archives, newspaper and print media publications, and public records. Data will be coded according to socio-ecological level themes using NVIVO software. Study deliverables will include a chronological and detailed narrative of the Forest Cove Community, a description of the nested and intersectional public health implications at socio-ecological layers, and recommendations for policy and programmatic action. Findings from this work may be used to guide future actions related to management of low-income housing and supporting residents of these communities when a housing complex is identified as “needing rehabilitation” or as “uninhabitable.”