I-TEAM: Where did entitlement money go for brick house on Branch Street?
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Augusta’s Black history is under threat as historic neighborhoods begin to vanish across the city.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development provides millions of dollars in entitlement money every year to preserve our cornerstone communities.
Our I-TEAM uncovered that help is getting lost in the local government before it reaches the people it’s meant to help.
Augusta receives federal funds to preserve and grow safe and affordable housing.
But after more than a year of investigating, our I-TEAM found some of the money seems to just disappear and generational homes lost, like the brick house on Branch Street.
The year is 1966.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys headline at the Bell Auditorium, Jack Nicklaus becomes the first back-to-back champion at the Masters, Richard Petty makes his 49th win at Augusta Speedway and Valerie Brooks graduates from T.W. Josey High School.
ANOTHER I-TEAM INVESTIGATION:
- Federal lawsuit filed against Burke County Sheriff’s Office
- Are Burke County sheriff and his ers above the law?
- ATF raids business of man linked to Burke County sheriff
- Burke County sheriff’s ongoing problems
- More on a case that vanished under Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams’ watch
- 2nd Burke County DUI case never makes it to court
- Burke County audit finds big problems with sheriff’s spending
It would be another six years before a judge issued a desegregation order for Richmond County schools.
“Everybody knew everybody, we knew the people that lived here,” said Roderick Brown.
A street over from the high school sits the home Brown’s grandfather built in the 1950s.
“You have historic Martin Luther King over here, 15th Street over here,” said Brown.
“This is the fondest memory. This is a pecan tree, and we used to love coming out here as kids and picking up the pecans,” he said.
Henry Brooks was the first African American licensed contractor in Augusta and became a building inspector for Richmond County.
Brown’s grandmother and uncle worked as crossing guards at T.W. Josey.
Brown’s mother followed the same path as her parents in public service after graduation — first as a social worker and later as a substitute teacher.
Ga. elections chief wants federal suit dropped over voting laws
Brad Raffensperger made a formal request to new U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to dismiss a Biden istration lawsuit against the state over its voting laws.
“Mama Val” from the brick house on Branch Street would become the cornerstone of this community.
“My mom, having moved back and lived in that house to help take care of her sister,” said Brown.
But the decades had taken a toll on the 70-year-old house.
“The house was just in disrepair,” said Brown.
“It was just that when you get to the point where you have rodents and things trying to get into the house and things like that, they just didn’t have the resources to do anything,” he said.
Housing and Community Development has resources.
Augusta-Richmond County is an entitlement city, meaning our local government receives millions of dollars from Housing and Urban Development every year to help families like the Browns.
‘Attacked and slandered’: Augusta preservation chief quits
Two days after the Augusta Historic Preservation Commission came under fire from city leaders, the chairwoman resigns in a sharply worded letter.
“And so, there were a couple of, I guess, grant programs that we were made aware of where they would come in and do emergency rehabilitation type work,” said Brown.
Brown began inquiring about the grants in the spring of 2021. A few months later, he receives a letter from housing and community.
“The family got excited because at least we were going to have been able to stay in the community,” he said.
Behind the scenes, warning bells were going off.
The director of Housing and Community Development emailed his staff saying, “I am deeply disturbed as to the rehab sector’s programmatic processes and guidelines.”
The Browns received a second letter in September 2021.
The letter said: “Thank you for applying to the Housing and Community Development Rehabilitation Program. Unfortunately, we regret to inform you that due to the extensive work required for the property, we are denying the property for the rehabilitation program. However, the property has been chosen for a demo reconstruction project for the year 2022, and this is what we received from the Housing and Community Development.”
SEE THE LETTER:
“We were told that she would be in her house on her 75th birthday to celebrate being in her new home,” said Brown.
Commissioners approve funding for the project and award the contract to build Valerie’s new home.
“My family was relocated,” said Brown.
Liz: “That’s where we’re at, right?”
Brown: “That’s where we’re at right now. We’re at a property on Laney Walker Boulevard.”
Valerie couldn’t celebrate her 75th birthday in her new house.
Torn from her family home and her community, “Mama Val” died in a rental on the other side of town.
“I’m going to try not to get emotional, but the day before my mom ed away, one of two comments that she made to me was, why did the city do this to me?” said Brown.
The I-TEAM uncovered Laney Walker Rental Property is owned by Housing and Community Development.
It’s one of 58 rental properties owned by HCD held in the landbank.
HCD filed to evict Brown’s disabled aunt and special needs cousin from the Laney Walker rental last summer.
“The city took possession of the house when they relocated us and still have possession of the house,” said Brown.
The same rental HCD moved them to for a project the city never started.
Liz: “How does Branch Street look now?”
Brown: “Completely. It’s uninhabitable. Unrecognizable shrubs. Trees have grown up to where you can barely see the house from the street. And it’s not habitable at all.”
Liz: “So, two years later, nothing’s been done. Nothing’s been done. The house has not been demolished. Has not even been cleared to start the work.”
Brown: “Nothing has been done.”
Despite the HCD spending more than $11,000 entitlement on an architect and $270,000 entitlement on a builder.
“The commission approved in May of 2023 the contract was signed with the contractor with a specific amount of money for that contract in May of 2023. What happened to the money?” said Brown.
MORE FROM THE I-TEAM:
- Changes to chemical plant’s permit raise pollution concerns
- Thieves swiping Apple devices where you’d least expect it
- Investigation continues into 8-month-old’s death in Jefferson County
- Local peach farm responds to allegations of withheld wages
- Local peach farm responds to allegations of withheld wages
Liz: “Where did the money go? Why are rentals held in the landbank? What led HCD to temporarily suspend the rehab program?”
The director of Housing and Community Development didn’t answer our questions, but he did respond to a records request. Turns out the funding source for the majority of the rentals Housing and Community Development owns in the landbank came from entitlement money.
More than $3.4 million came out of the same pool of grants that was supposed to fund the Browns family home.
“I’m even concerned from my limited research. A lot of these properties are also being bought up by the landbank,” said Brown.
It includes the property next door to the Brown’s generational home.
“Yeah so, I am hoping there are no alternative options with this area I hope they preserve this area concerning the history that’s here,” said Brown.
Because when local history is allowed to vanish, legacies die and cornerstone communities crumble.
Brown hired an attorney for the eviction, and on the first of this year, his aunt and cousin signed a lease with HCD to stay in the rental property.
They’re housed but not back home in the brick house on Branch Street.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
