Televangelist T.D. Jakes wants to help Augusta’s Laney-Walker community eradicate its food desert.
The T.D. Jakes Foundation, in collaboration with Wells Fargo, announced Wednesday a $500,000 grant to the Community Foundation of the CSRA to “fund the introduction and development of a grocery in the Laney-Walker neighborhood of Augusta,” according to a news release.
The grant is part of a $9 million philanthropic effort by the T.D. Jakes Foundation and Wells Fargo to improve historically underrepresented communities, it said.
The Laney-Walker district, Augusta’s historically Black business district, has relied on dollar stores, fast food and churches to eat for years. The closest grocery, a Kroger on 15th Street, closed in 2017. City leaders have said bringing convenient fresh healthy food options to the area was a priority.
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“Disruption is the only solution to systemic inequality. Partnerships with impactful and relevant organizations enable us to provide even more opportunities to transform historically marginalized groups and areas across the entire nation,” Jakes said in the release.
The city has had a partnership with T.D. Jakes Ministries for some time and inked a memorandum of understanding with the church last year. Mayor Garnett Johnson mentioned the partnership in his state of the city address.
The MOU’s stated initiative was to “facilitate development of a grocery/market/wellness center located within the Laney-Walker and Bethlehem communities.”
The store is a separate effort than that of the MCG Foundation to develop a grocery store on 15th Street across from the former Kroger, Foundation President and CEO Ian Mercier said.
Jakes’ real estate arm has undertaken full-blown redevelopment projects in some cities and recently acquired 94 acres of former Fort McPherson land adjacent to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta for a mixed-use village.
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
