In 2016, the Augusta Dream Center opened its doors to begin serving the Augusta community. Kellie Cardona, Augusta Dream Center Director, explains that the organization’s outreach grew rapidly. “We started serving with just a group of students here in the South Augusta area and quickly learned that there are many layers of needs in their lives, so we started reaching out to their families,” shares Kellie. By 2020, the center had grown large enough to serve over 20,000 individuals from both South Carolina and Georgia through the variety of programs.
“The Augusta Dream Center is a non-profit organization that serves homeless and under-resourced men, women, and children – both as individuals and families,” says Kellie. “All of our programs are designed to bring immediate relief in the areas of poverty.” Those programs include several methods of food distribution, a clothes closet, counseling and medical services, and special events such as a yearly school supply and backpack distribution in August and Cinderella Day in March to inspire young women.
“The heart behind everything we do is finding a need and filling that need,” shares Kellie. “When I say finding a need and filling it, it’s doing very practical things that make sense and will make someone’s life a little bit easier. We try to make it as easy as possible for people to get access to the resources because there are a number of barriers that people face.”
Two large barriers the residents of South Augusta face are limited access to transportation, due to the lack of public transportation in the area, and living in a food desert, which means there is not a grocery store or access to healthy food options within a certain distance of their home.
With overcoming those barriers in mind, the team at the Augusta Dream Center operates a food pantry that is open to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the first Saturday of each month. “It’s not an emergency pantry that gives just enough food to get through the night,” explains Kellie. “We give enough food for a family of four to last about three or four days.” Individuals and families have access to the pantry once a week and they can come every week of the month. The food pantry guarantees that families have access to a variety of nutritious foods.
Each Sunday evening, the team takes a different approach to providing meals for the community. “Instead of the food pantry being open on Sundays, that’s when we have our diner experience where we serve hot meals,” says Kellie. “The diner is probably one of my favorites and we work really hard to make it not feel like a soup kitchen. We set out tables and fine linens and we have servers. People come in, have a seat, and we serve them.” The center serves an average of sixty guests each Sunday night and it is a special time for community fellowship.
The center’s mobile distribution unit, using a new and very helpful box truck, serves as the third facet of providing food for the community. “Mobile distribution is super important because of the overwhelming lack of transportation and access to food,” explains Kellie. “So every month, we serve Maxwell House apartments and Dogwood Terrace, one of Augusta’s poorest housing communities. We essentially load up everything we do here at the Dream Center, and we take it to those areas. We set up in their community centers or at the basketball court and whatever we have, we give out. We take groceries and clothes – we basically take everything that we would provide for somebody who comes onsite. It’s a Dream Center on wheels.”
Through the food programs alone, the Augusta Dream Center served over 14,000 individuals in 2020 and with the pandemic continuing to linger, Kellie does not anticipate that number dropping any time soon.
As an essential part of all the outreach programs, volunteers are always welcome and needed. “We try to make volunteering easy too and we want that volunteer experience to be really good as we grow a culture of giving back,” says Kellie. The center’s website shows multiple options for volunteering to fit a host of skill sets and schedules. Your office, organization, or school can also help remotely by hosting food and clothing drives for the center.
To find out more on how you can be involved in volunteering and supporting the Augusta Dream Center, visit www.augustadreamcenter.org, follow their social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram, or call 706-364-2860. The center is located at 3364 Peach Orchard Road in Augusta.