Augusta, GA
Augusta offers warming shelters as temps drop below freezing
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta is offering day and night warming shelters to provide residents with a safe and warm environment as temperatures will get below freezing on Friday.
With temperatures expected to drop into the low 20s on Friday, the city is stepping up to help those stay warm.
Friday morning will be below freezing in the upper 20s and low 30s. The highs will be in the upper 50s wind will be out of the northeast between 5-10 mph.
Augusta will have daytime centers, however, free bus service is not provided to those sites. The locations include:
- Carrie J. Mays Center: 1014 11th Ave., Augusta, 706-821-2827, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Bernie Ward Center: 1941 Lumpkin Road, Augusta, 706-790-0588, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Blythe Center: 3129 Highway 88, Blythe, 706-592-4988, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Henry H. Brigham Center: 2463 Golden Camp Road, 706-771-2654, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- May Park: 622 Fourth St., 706-724-0504, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- McBean Center: 1155 Hephzibah-McBean Road, 706-560-2628, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sand Hills Center: 2540 Wheeler Road, 706-842-1912, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- W.T. Johnson Center: 1606 Hunter St., 706-821-2866, 9 a.m. to noon
- Warren Road Center: 300 Warren Road, 706-860-2833, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Diamond Lakes Regional Park, 4335 Windsor Spring Road, 706-826-1370, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The city will offer free bus rides to overnight warming centers.
Augusta Transit pick-up locations:
- Broad Street Transfer Facility, 1546 Broad St.
- May Park Community Center, 622 Fourth St.
Drop-off locations:
- Augusta Rescue Mission, 526 Walker St. (Route 3 Gold Line/East Augusta)
- Garden City Rescue Mission, 828 Fenwick St. (Route 6 Brown Line/Gordon Highway)
- Salvation Army Center of Hope, 1384 Greene St. (Route 3 Gold Line/East Augusta)
The bus service will run continuously until 8 p.m. People unable to get to the pickup locations and in need of a ride should call 706-821-1719 before 8 p.m.
The city has not opened additional night shelters unless the partner shelters reach full capacity. If this occurs, the partners will notify officials before taking further action.
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Those without a place to call home are needing somewhere to stay warm.
“No one wakes up and says ‘I’m going to be homeless today,’” said Janelys Villalta, Salvation Army marketing and public relations manager.
“We care about them,” said Patrick Feitsel, Garden City Rescue Mission executive director. “We want to see their lives change around or where they don’t have to do this anymore.”
Feitsel says it really is a matter of life or death.
During times like these, they also open their doors during the day.
“Getting enough money for rent, for an apartment is not as easy as it used to be,” said Feitsel. “So people are finding themselves on the streets, where they would have never two years ago thought they might have been in this situation and the storm has displaced people on top of it”
To stay at one of these shelters you have to have clearance and ID.
People in need of a background check to stay at an overnight shelter can go to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office before 5 p.m. to get documentation from the records bureau. If it’s after 5 or if they’re unable to go to the records bureau, they can call 706-821-1080 and a deputy will come to them.
During this time of year, these shelters encourage you to donate items like winter clothing and blankets to help keep people warm.
Next week, the temperatures will rise again to the mid-60s.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta officials say a preliminary response related to an audit of the Housing and Community Development Department was received Tuesday from Cherry Bekaert.
The audit report is not yet complete, according to the city.
After initial review, the city has requested additional information to “ensure clarity and accuracy before the process moves forward.”
“The Augusta government remains committed to transparency and will provide further updates once the requested information is received and the audit is finalized,” the city said in the news release.
In November, Augusta Commission members held a budget workshop session with much discussion about the Housing and Community Development Department.
That’s the department that left the city on the hook to pay back millions in federal grant money.
The city received more than $6 million in grant money during the COVID-19 pandemic, supposedly to help people who were in danger of eviction.
The city never spent the money for that purpose, so the government demanded it back.
The department didn’t have the money on hand, so the city had to repay it, and then some, from the general fund — $6.3 million of the original grant money and $2.1 million in penalties.
The scandal led to the exit of Housing and Community Director Hawthorne Welcher and sparked an audit of the department.
On Oct. 28, commissioners in closed executive session approved the payment of up to $32,237.32 from contingency funds for rental assistance previously approved by the Housing and Community Development Department.
This means leaders agreed to take the money from their emergency fund and use it to help people with their rent as part of a program the department had already put in place.
Mayor Garnett Johnson said at the time this was an effort to address letters that were sent out, falsely leading people to believe they were getting some emergency funds.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Several health events in Augusta on Tuesday are offering help to those who need medical care.
Department of Public Health mobile clinic
The Department of Public Health mobile clinic will be at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
Officials say the clinic makes it easier to receive care for those who don’t have transportation.
The clinic will be at the 3109 Wrightsboro Road from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
You can receive sports, work and school physicals, diabetes management, WIC referrals, vaccines and more.
The mobile clinic offers private exam rooms, wheelchair-accessible lifts and modern medical equipment.
For more information on the mobile clinic and what stops it will take, visit www.ecphd.com/wego.
Annual Horizon Truckers Clinic
The fourth annual health fair for bus and shuttle driver employees with Horizon Motor Coach will be held on Tuesday at Julian Smith Casino, 2200 Broad Street.
This event will start at 11 a.m.
In partnership with the Augusta Lions Club, the Augusta University’s College of Nursing, Georgia Prevention Institute, College of Allied Health Sciences, the Dental College of Georgia and the Georgia Cancer Center make the event possible.
The health fair is designed to help prevent and identify health issues as well as providing mock DOT exams, dental examinations and nutrition advice.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Anderson County victim was flown to the Augusta burn center after a bedroom fire Sunday night.
The Pendleton Fire Department said the victim was unconscious and was found in the kitchen area of the home.
The bedroom door was closed during the fire, so the rest of the home was not damaged, according to officials.
The victim’s current condition and the cause of the fire are unknown.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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