The HUB for Community Innovation has lived up to its name by being a center to provide necessary resources in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
On Thursday, non-profits gathered at the center at 631 Chafee Ave. preparing for a drive-thru event starting at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4.
“Many of our non-profits are all doing something. It’s all great stuff,” said Susan Everitt, Executive Director for the East Central Georgia chapter American Red Cross, who reached out to those agencies in hopes of a collaboration and to bring things into a central place.
A lot of people in nearby Harrisburg aren’t able to get out to find needed resources, so Everitt along with the Salvation Army, HUB and other groups decided to do the resource center.
Items such as food, water, clothing and diapers will be distributed until 4 p.m. or when they run out of them, she said.
She hopes the event at the HUB will be the first of many of the course of coming weeks to continue to provide assistance to those affected by Helene. She’s hopeful to provide information on how to receive assistance from FEMA, but that “won’t happen tomorrow,” she said.
At Augusta Locally Grown Thursday, volunteers packaged boxed meals with items from local farmers including barbecue, fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs.
“We were aiming for 100, but we’re probably going to have 200,” said Rebecca van Loenen, executive director.
Volunteers planned to distribute them on Thursday afternoon.
Dr. Ebony Whisenant, the physician at Harrisburg Family Healthcare also located at the HUB, said many people have been contacting the center in recent days seeking assistance, and she’s glad it’s making a name for being a place where people can turn when they are in need.
“Some of our seniors specifically reached out when they had power and said ‘Can you help us?’” said Whisenant. The health care center has a partnership with the housing authority to work with senior adults.
When two senior living centers lost power, volunteers were doing more than just delivering the requested supplies.
With the elevator out due to lost electricity, residents of W.C. Ervin Towers and Hal Powell Apartments were trying to navigate darkened stairways to get to vital medical appointments such as dialysis, and Whisenant said volunteers assisted in helping people safely get to their apartments.
While the storm has been devastating, Whisenant said she’s seen it bring out kindness and compassion in other people as well as their generosity.
“Look at what we can do as a community if we link arm,” she said.
She said it’s also exposed some areas that need work.
“I think it’s also giving us an opportunity to find gaps, moving forward we need to find ways to fill those gaps,” she said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
