Augusta officials and community members gathered Wednesday to break ground on the city’s first tiny home village, a project aimed at providing housing and life skills support for youth aging out of the foster care system.
Located just off Central Avenue on Merry Street, the former city park will transform over the next year into a village of 25 tiny, 320-square-foot homes surrounding an activity center where youth will learn life skills in a secure environment, organizers said Wednesday.
The project is the brainchild of retired Army strategic force manager Jackson Drumgoole, who headed up the crowd of builders, volunteers and supporters gathered for the groundbreaking.
Drumgoole, the founder of Bridge Builders Communities, said the project has garnered wide support from the community, which has stepped up to offer “all the scaffolding necessary for this population to thrive,” including abundant resources and educational, workforce and support initiatives.
“We’re not just creating a community, we’re cultivating a culture,” he said.
Architect Joe Gambill, chairman of the project’s board, said nearly $5 million in donations has been secured.
Among the contributors, McMillan Pazdan Smith provided architectural design services at no cost. Other supporters include Mark and JoAnn Herbert of Herbert Homes, Sitemaster for site work, and homebuilders Bill Beazley Homes, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Ivey Homes, and R.W. Allen
Mark and JoAnn Herbert of Herbert Homes were the “first major donor,” Gambill said. Mark Herbert “saw our vision and ran with it.”
Mark Ivey, co-owner of Ivey Homes, told the crowd that building the homes is the giving back he’s been taught to do.
“As builders, we like to build homes and we like for everyone to have a place that they can call home, and this project will provide homes for decades to come,” Ivey said.
Stephen Beazley, president of Bill Beazley Homes, said the project will “help hundreds” over a decade, as each youth tends to stay about a year. When the young adults are ready to move out, they take their home’s furnishings with them.
Scott Clark, president of R.W. Allen, said his firm is “proud to be a partner” and had completed about 60 nonprofit projects over the years, in addition to working with youth in construction training.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson, whose District 1 includes the development, pushed for Augusta to adopt a tiny home ordinance that allows the homes in small groups.
Johnson recalled Wednesday a trip with the late Linda Barrs to explore Savannah’s tiny home villages. Barrs was brimming with plans to house Augusta’s downtrodden in tiny homes on the way back. Next, former Mayor Hardie Davis was receptive, he said.
“Imagine the impact that’s going to be made in the lives of young folks who are going to come to this property, right here in the city of Augusta,” Johnson said.
Mayor Garnett Johnson as well as Davis, former Mayor Deke Copenhaver and commissioners Francine Scott and Tony Lewis attended the groundbreaking.
Among the project’s partners include Goodwill Industries, which offers nursing and hospitality industry programs the village’s residents may benefit from, said Chef Samuel Saxon, representing Goodwill Industries President Jim Stiff. Goodwill is also donating some furnishings for the residents, he said.
Residents will come from approximately 1,100 eligible youth aging out of Georgia’s foster care system. They are eligible at age 18 and can stay up to age 25, but the typical stay is 15-18 months, Gambill said.
A resident manager will be on the premises 24-7, and additional staff will come to the site during the day, he said.
Security is “very, very important to us,” and the development will include a shadowbox fence around three sides for privacy, plus an ornamental fence facing Merry Street, he said.
Nearby Pollock Company has provided a security system for the village, he said.
Organizers have worked to engage with the surrounding community, and now some neighbors are volunteers, he said. They sent out 400 postcards inviting residents within a quarter mile to attend the groundbreaking, he said.
