Finding Solutions: Tiny home project hopes to give foster kids aging out of the system a chance
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -Augusta’s first tiny home community is another step closer to becoming a reality.
On Monday, an old community center was demolished on the property where 25 tiny homes are designed to go.
It was a major milestone for the non-profit behind the project who is finding solutions for young adults aging out of the foster care system.
Bridge Builder Communities is the organization spearheading the project on Merry Street.
“We can redo this community by building 25 homes and a beautiful community center for this community and for our young adults,” said Jackson Drumgoole, the founder and CEO of Bridge Builder Communities. “We’re just excited that this is the first part of many.”
City leaders and the community met to watch an old community center that’s been around since 1951 come down, to make way for the future.
“This is our future that’s coming in here,” said Francine Scott, District 9 commissioner. “Even though they were in foster care, they are coming into better themselves and this is a place that’s going to be a transition for people to come get themselves together, get some life experience, and then they’ll move on. It’s something that the community needs and I think this is going to be perfect for this area.”
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It’s a $5 million project set to help young adults aging out of the foster care system get the resources they need.
“There are 11,000 young adults in care in the state of Georgia,” said Drumgoole. “Once they leave care, between the mental, emotional, physical abuse and lack of family , they are left on their own, and we want to make sure no young adult is left on their own.”
They purchased the old community building from the city and are working to help provide a place for these kids to go while they continue to build their lives.
“We want to make sure that no young adult has to be left alone to raise themselves and so that’s what we are doing,” said Drumgoole. “We’re providing a community of a care and equal system of excellence and the city of Augusta has been so amazing in ing us in this effort.”
President of the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce Ronic West says projects like this will benefit the area.
“I think we always need something for our young men to do,” said West. “Sometimes our Black young men get overlooked, and young men that have been through any trouble we always feel like their life is over, but they are still very young and there are a lot of turns and avenues they can take to help our citizens. They are going to be our leaders, they are our leaders already, so as I continue to age, projects like this are humongous.”
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Nearly 300 high school students met at Augusta University’s campus for Future Georgia Educators Day. It’s something done across the state to give high schoolers more insight into the teaching profession.
Drumgoole says it’s a mission that’s gained a lot of and he’s looking forward to the future.
“It takes a village to raise a family or to raise a child and we as the city of Augusta can do that together,” he said. ‘We can come together as churches, businesses, civic organizations and as a government to wrap ourselves around this population. There is still hope.”
The project also goes beyond the tiny home community itself.
There will be a lot of different programs implemented for these young adults when it comes to education and workforce initiatives.
This project is aimed at successfully transitioning them into adulthood and they are hoping to break ground in the first quarter of next year.
If you would like to the cause or donate you can visit their website here.
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