SOAR Academy looks for a new home after storm damage
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Many people, businesses and schools are still recovering from Hurricane Helene weeks later. SOAR Academy is one of the schools that had so much damage, they’ve had to stop school.
The boarded-up windows on the outside are nothing compared to the damage on the inside. Now, they’re calling on the community to help them find a new place.
Just off Washington Road, there’s a place many kids consider a second home.
“We have really become a family in this space,” said Maurice Good, SOAR Academy executive director.
Soar Academy is one of the many places impacted by Hurricane Helene.
“With the hurricane happening, it really, really did some damage,” said Good.
Damage in Hammond Hill raises concerns about student safety
Low-hanging power lines, fallen trees and debris have raised significant safety issues for students in the Hammond Hills neighborhood - teams assessed the damage in preparation for school on Monday, the district announced.
The storm delayed school for a few weeks, but forever in this location.
“We cater to families of kids who have had who have struggled in traditional school settings, whether that be because of how traditional schools are run, a lot of the sit and get type of mentality, or if it’s because they have some type of exceptionality, whether it’s autism, whether it’s dyslexia,” said Good.
Now, they have to go to a different place temporarily and look for a new, permanent home.
“Lots of water damage you can see where it’s tarped over here because at one point there was rain leaking in,” said Good.
And it’s just like this throughout the rest of the school.
Schools go on soft lockdown after incident during Allendale-Fairfax football game
After an incident on Friday at a football game in Allendale County, school officials are implementing a soft lockdown protocol throughout this week starting Monday as a precautionary measure.
“We literally walked into the window ing, not even just being shattered, the whole frame, and all just blew over,” said Good. “We had a lot of there was things that were rummaged through, because when we came into the building, there were squatters here who had kind of gone through, taken it upon themselves to go through our things so at this point, it’s just truly uninhabitable for students.”
As they try and figure out what to do next, at the end of the day it’s not where the building is, it’s who’s in it.
“We’re looking forward to certainly just getting to see the babies again,” said Good. “I know that they have been reaching out. They’re excited to get back into school and to see each other and to see us.”
They’re hoping to be back to school on Wednesday at a temporary location, but as for a more permanent location, that’s still up in the air.
They’re turning to the community for help with that.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
