It’s been nearly two weeks since Augusta’s Homeless Task Force unveiled a set of shiny new mailboxes for the use of the area’s unhoused community.
The 50 mailboxes, located at Gap Ministries 1235 Greene St., are not quite ready for use – according to Nomi Stanton, executive director of Gap Ministries and a task force member, they are waiting for the post office to create a master lock so that the boxes can be accessed.
Stanton said that the installation of these mailboxes was made possible through a private donation.
Stanton also hopes that the boxes will help clear up some misconceptions around homelessness, particularly shedding light on the difficulties that come from not having a residential address.
“There are certain things you need to have an address for,” she said. These range from applying for a state issued ID, receiving social security and applying for SNAP benefits and food stamps.
How it works
So far, five agencies are partnering with the task force to be keyholders for the mailboxes. These are Augusta Partnership for Children, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Community Supervision, CSRA EOA (Economic Opportunity Authority) and the Salvation Army.
These agencies will be able to use the mailboxes, forwarding the mail to individuals whom they support. Stanton said the task force is actively looking for more agencies to partner with.
Those eligible to access mailboxes are individuals being helped by an agency or who are in active case management.
A hand up, not a hand out
Stanton said that unhoused individuals in the community have let the task force know what they need most, one of those being resoundingly usable mailboxes.
“We don’t want to just put a bandaid on something. We want to be able to help them so that they can be independent and not depend on any of us,” she said. “I think it’s a beautiful win for the entire community.”
