Dear Editor,
“The lack of bus service has made it hard for many people in underserved areas of the city to get out of their neighborhoods and get the assistance they need.” – Steve Byerly (WRDW)
What Steve Byerly reported was a harsh truth that brings other dormant issues back to active status. Yes, our elected officials at the federal, state and local level have been working hard to provide relief to the CSRA and get the area back up and running.
However, let us not forget that the downtown Augusta area is still a food desert. Hitching a ride on Byerly’s report, I can confirm that I had to ride my bike from near Olde Towne all the way out to Kroger on Washington road just to purchase foods that have decent nutritional values. Make no mistake, it is an awful thing that the dollar stores were looted, but I think we can all agree that the dollar stores and convenience stores do not serve the low-income community well when it comes to nutrition.
Now, to the bus system. I rely heavily on Augusta Transit to get home from work and attend mandatory meetings and groups. The fact that I can get on my bike and get the exercise in is a blessing. But what about the elderly woman who needs transportation to the doctor’s office yet has no familial connection here and no one else to call on, or the disabled veteran downtown in the wheelchair who needs to go for groceries because he has a food allergy that the food giveaways cannot accommodate.
These are real-life situations. Who are these two people to call on? This is not a political statement, and I am not a politician. Rather, I am a concerned citizen. I do not possess the resources that the city and county does. Yes, we underwent a critical event, and our elected officials and first responders are effectively handling the clean-up on aisle nine.
But we cannot just ignore a previously dormant hard truth that Hurricane Helene has reactivated: that there are social needs that were pushed to the back long before the storm came, and that these social needs are simply not being met.
As for the storm crisis: again, thank you to our elected officials and first responders for staying on top of things.
Lawrence A. Brannen
The Justice-Impacted Reformation Society Inc.
