Augusta, GA

Ground could break soon for Augusta’s first tiny home community

Published

2 years ago

June 6, 2024

Press Room

Ground could break soon for Augusta’s first tiny home community

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The community of tiny homes is continuing to push forward.

Augusta leaders approved the project a couple of months ago, and we could soon see shovels in the ground this year.

“They wanted to bring people in and activate the space. For them, that meant creating functions where people could gather,” said Joy Newberry with McMillan Pazdan Smith.

Bridge Builder Communities is working with McMillan Pazdan Smith to plan and design a tiny home village on Merry Street.

Jackson Drumgoole, Executive Director of Bridge Builder Communities, said: “There are 11,000 young adults in the child protective services in the state of Georgia with hundreds aging out year after year. We want to make sure that these young adults are able to transition successfully into adulthood and move into independence.”

The faces behind the ideas of what this project should look like are from 13 McMillan Pazdan Smith interns located at different studios they have in the southeast.

“It wasn’t just about design,” said Kamand Taherkhani, intern with McMillan Pazdan Smith. “It was truly meaningful and I’m just glad to be a small part of this project.”

Last summer interns focused on the design of tiny homes. Now they’re working on what the community building will look like.

“This community building that we specifically worked on drew in the residents of this place and made it feel like it’s your back porch and that you’re gathering and creating that quality time with your neighbor and your people,” said Caylin Breakfield, intern with McMillan Pazdan Smith.

Newberry is a foster parent herself and says getting the interns involved really makes a difference because they’re helping people the same age as them.

“They were able to come in and say what are the services that I would need,” said Newberry. “What would I like to see if I were experiencing this at some time in my life and bring in an insight we might be missing.”

The goal now is to choose the best ideas from all of the interns and create an updated plan for community building.

They hope to have the tiny homes completed next summer.

To learn more or to donate, visit Bridge Builder Communities’ website.

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Augusta, GA

Local group holds 4th annual walk against autism

Published

9 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Local group holds 4th annual walk against autism

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – April is Autism Awareness Month, and one local group raised awareness with a walk in Augusta on Sunday.

The fourth annual autism walk was hosted by Moving Over Mountains Against autism at Lake Olmstead Park.

All proceeds from the walk support autism awareness initiatives.

We spoke with the CEO and founder of the group, Deidre Roberson, who said this year they are dedicating the walk to their photographer, who died recently.

Roberson told us what she looks forward to the most.

“I look most forward to seeing the different people every year. We always meet different people, new people, and they come from all over the CSRA, so Washington, Wilkes, Carolina,” she said.

There were also several vendors providing resources to families.

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Augusta, GA

From Augusta roots to Nighthawks leader: Nolan Belcher comes home

Published

21 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

From Augusta roots to Nighthawks leader: Nolan Belcher comes home

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- Augusta University baseball is in a three-game series matchup against the University of North Georgia.

AU is currently down in the series 0-2 after a close loss Friday and a loss Saturday.

But we aren’t focusing on the Jags, we’re going to take a look at North Georgia’s head coach, Nolan Belcher.

He is an Augusta native who began his career at Greenbrier and Augusta Christian.

He won three state championships, which then led him to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

There he won back-to-back national championships and finished runner up in 2012.

His coaching career began after that where he eventually joined the Peach belt Confrence, coaching at USCA and GCSU.

Now in his first season as head coach for the Nighthawks, he is happy to come home and coach in front of his friends and family.

“I’m very fortunate that I got family that, one is still around and they can come watch me do what I love. And, they’ve shown me, nothing but support throughout my whole coaching career and even back on my playing dates are very thankful and appreciative for everything they’ve done for me.”

AU and UNG will have their final series match on Sunday.

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