The City of Augusta is pleased to join the Georgia Department of Community Supervision, the Governor's Office of Transition, Support and Reentry and Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA in announcing a partnership to designate a Station of Hope at Goodwill’s Job Connection at 3120 Peach Orchard Road.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Station of Hope designation will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, May 16, at the Job Connection.

Stations of Hope are part of the Department of Community Supervision’s effort to provide a holistic approach to supervision of citizens transitioning into the community from incarceration. The Station of Hope at Goodwill’s South Augusta Job Connection will become part of these outreach services, allowing transitioning citizens access to a broad range of employment services designed to reintegrate them into the community, improving their personal stability and thereby reducing the likelihood of re-offending.

Department of Community Supervision Commissioner Michael W. Nail will lead Monday’s announcement.

“With no job, no money, and often no place to live, returning citizens find themselves facing the same challenges that landed them in prison,” said Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. “Stations of Hope provide a lighthouse to those traveling from the dark moments of their past to a fresh start and a brighter future.”

Goodwill’s Job Connection in Augusta will be the first Station of Hope in Georgia not affiliated with a faith community, and will be joined by a second Goodwill site in Macon on May 19. The Peach Orchard Job Connection has been connecting unemployed and underemployed citizens to new careers since 1996, and served as a WIA-designated employment One-Stop from 2000-2015.

“The Station of Hope at the Job Connection helps us recall that Goodwill was founded in 1902 by a Methodist minister,” said James K. Stiff, President of Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA. “Returning citizens are facing significant barriers to employment, and our Goodwill’s mission of providing career services is especially important for at-risk individuals who need to experience God’s love and mercy through tangible, comprehensive employment services.”

Monday’s announcement will include remarks from two returning citizens who have benefitted from the transitional services offered by the state’s public-private partnerships.