Augusta leaders approve tiny homes for former foster kids
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Augusta leaders approved a community of tiny homes for youths aging out of the foster care system on Tuesday.
Located on land converted from a park, the community on Merry Street could eventually host 25 dwellings for transition foster kids entering adulthood.
Unlike young people from traditional families, kids raised in the foster system often emerge from it at the age of 18 with no resources or system to fall back on.
There’s no ing for them to gradually gain independence and finally move out of the house – and no “mom’s basement” to move into if they falter.
This community could help solve that problem.
The unanimous 8-0 vote was met with applause.
“The fact that we have real estate now makes all of the difference in the world. It shows that we’re a viable non-profit. We have the city behind us right now we have the community behind us right now,” said Jackson Drumgoole, Executive Director of Bridge Builders Communities.
The neighborhood will have 25 homes together, each one just 320 square feet.
Project designer, and chairman of Bridge Builders Communities, Joe Gambill, said: “That computes to the size that’s about one and a half car garage. It’s the perfect size for these young adults to come to learn how to handle living on their own.”
MORE FROM NEWS 12 :
- Details on May election in Richmond, Columbia counties
- Georgia launches home loan program: Key things to know
- Augusta businesses see big impact from golf week
Drumgoole said: “18 to 25, so it’s up to seven years, but what we’ve found out from some of our community partners nationwide is that most of this population stays in about nine months to 18 months. Because they really want to see, ‘Do I have the cushioning? Do I have what it takes to make it? Do I have the scaffolding? Do I have the reachback capability?’ And once they realize that they have a job, they have an education, they have a family of their own, they’re more than ready to launch.”
If this project is successful, potentially more tiny home neighborhoods would come to pave the future for more affordable housing.
However, neighbors led by Michael Thurman organized a petition to keep their park where the tiny homes are proposed.
“The idea for the children aging out is a wonderful idea, I think it’s just a bad place,” said Thurman.
City officials said the Merry Street Park was actually handed over to the Augusta Land Bank about three years ago due to the costs of maintaining a building on the site that had a caved-in roof. As a result, the location is not being maintained by the city.
Project designer Joe Gambill said the design would cost $3 million.
Right now, organizers only have enough money to build the first one-third of the project, but he said today’s approval would help organizers raise funds for the rest of the project.
The project is based on Oklahoma’s PIVOT community, but he its he has no prior experience building tiny home communities. Added factors would be a perimeter fence and security footage
The meeting room was packed ahead of the vote, but Thurman said only a handful of people there were from his side.
Jackson Drumgoole with Bridge Builder Communities, the developer, said he organized the large crowd in today – made up he says of business owners, church leaders and others.
He said he expects shovels in the ground before the end of the year.
Also at the meeting:
- The commission approved requiring a $5 annual decal for food trucks.
- The commission denied a request to bring a type of Dollar General store to Old McDuffie Road. Neighbors said they were afraid it would crowd the road, and 14 of them happily left the meeting after the vote.
- The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office would like an addendum for a new inmate telephone contract.
- The commission wants to look into purchasing more munitions for SWAT team training.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
