He knew her as “the shower lady” for her work with Project Refresh, an organization that provides showers for the homeless. So, Ray Charles Brown was surprised when Carolyn Lightfoot acknowledged him at an event at the Augusta Common.
Most people don’t see us, he told her.
When she learned he had died, Lightfoot wept for him — who else would, she told her husband when questioned about her tears.
On Sunday, people filled a room at GAP Ministries to honor and remember both the homeless and some volunteers who served them at a memorial service. Several organizations were represented.
Nomi Stanton, the organization’s executive director, said she wasn’t sure what would happen at the event; she just knew that the people gathered were part of a family — a family she’s glad to be part of, a family that was there for her when her own mother passed away.
“We want to honor the people that have walked through those doors to an outreach that held their hands when they were at their lowest low just like GAP did for me,” said Stanton who has headed the organization for two years.
Several people including Lightfoot and Stanton shared from their experiences before a slideshow paid tribute to those served by GAP as well as Duane Rutledge, whose widow, Pernell, volunteers there. Duane Rutledge was killed in January after a hit-and-run incident.
Interspersed between the slides remembering those who had died were messages that these people weren’t forgotten, and their lives accounted for something.
“You may have lived outside the spotlight, beyond society’s gaze, but you were never invisible to us. Your struggles were real. Your joys were sacred. Your dreams mattered.”
Remembered were Brandon Tompkins, James Clarence West, Chandra Buffington, Brad Burkham, Larry Laws, Wayne Vann, Cindy Reese, Duterval Sejour, Shawn Henry and Ray Charles Brown.
“To remember is to honor. And to honor is to act. We commit to building a world where no one has to wonder if they matter,” a slide read.
The ceremony ended with “Amazing Grace.” It began with a single bagpipe player for the first verse; he was then joined with a chorus of bagpipes.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and received the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
