The Augusta Technical College Foundation is pleased to announce that the Widows Home of Augusta will provide scholarship support to three Allied Health students. The first recipients of the scholarships will be Dedrius Wright (Health Care Assistant/LPN), Kimberly Usry (Radiological Technology) and Teresa Radcliffe (Respiratory Care Therapy). Listed below is a brief history of the Widows Home of Augusta and its mission statement.

The Widows Home of Augusta, Georgia, Inc. has had a long and distinguished history of serving women in need in Augusta, Georgia.  In 1871, Louise King and a group of distinguished women of all faiths joined together to found The Widows Home on the site of Augusta’s first city hospital. At that time, the purpose of The Widows Home was to provide a home for Confederate widows and their children. Early benefactors such as Dr. Joseph Eve and Mrs. Emily Tubman provided a large portion of the funds needed to build the home that stands today at 126 Greene Street. Other legacies and private donations have allowed the Widows Home to continue to pursue its mission of serving women in need in Richmond and Columbia counties

Over the 135 years of its existence, The Widows Home has provided assistance to women in need in many areas of their lives. Until 2003, the building on Greene Street provided housing at a nominal rent for women who, for whatever reason, were unable to locate affordable housing. Throughout the 1990’s, the number of residents dwindled to a handful despite efforts of the Board of Directors of the Widows Home to inform the community of the availability of this inexpensive housing option for deserving women.  With dwindling occupancy and the increasing costs of maintaining a century-old building, the Board of Directors reluctantly decided to close the home, sell the property, and utilize the funds received from the sale to refocus its efforts to provide assistance to community agencies sponsoring programs in keeping with the mission statement of The Widows Home.

The Widows Home now invites community agencies to apply for funding of programs that advance the health, educational, economic, and social status of women in Richmond and Columbia counties. The Widows Home has been pleased to provide funding to agencies such as Safe Homes of Augusta, The Tuttle-Newton Home, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Hope House, Girls, Inc., Rape Crisis, Army Community Services, and others. The Widows Home also provides scholarships for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate female students at Augusta State University.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of The Widows Home of Augusta, Georgia, Inc., is to advance the health, educational, economic, and social status of women in Richmond and Columbia counties.