AUSTELL - The Cobb Emergency Management Agency is teaming up with government agencies and consumer counseling groups to host a workshop Friday for homeowners affected by the floods.

The workshop will be conducted from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Threadmill Complex, 5000 Austell-Powder Springs Road in Austell. Fourteen agencies will bring various representatives to speak with residents individually on what they can do to seek funding for flood-damaged homes.

"This is an opportunity for residents to speak with HUD-approved housing counselors on a one-on-one basis for information on how to obtain possible mortgage-related funding and their eligibility for various mortgage assistance programs," CEMA Director Lanita Lloyd.

Presentations will occur at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., which Lloyd said will give residents general information about programs and the organizations present at the workshop. Governmental agencies that are confirmed for the workshop include CEMA, the Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Non-governmental agencies providing information at the workshop include the Atlanta Urban League, Inc., Resources for Residents and Communities, the D & E Group, Help the People, the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Consumer Credit Counseling Service, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers-Investment Division, Inc., Housing Counseling Agency.

Lloyd said the idea came from the county's elected officials, as they began to grow concerned about residents' housing needs.

"There is a big emphasis of concern that the system of property acquisition, though fair and in place and helpful, takes time and they were concerned about how residents can sustain until then," Lloyd said.

This workshop is the first in the U.S., Lloyd said, with government and non-government agencies joining in such a project.

"This is about housing options, and how to work with mortgage lenders. We came up with it and organized it, but HUD has gotten on board and everyone has come together to do what we can to help these people in their time of need," Lloyd said.