Jags Jump In connects AU students with community through Project Refresh

Community engagement is one of the cornerstones of the Augusta University experience, but it’s not about chasing designations or checking off a box. It’s about having a positive, lasting impact on the lives of those who call Augusta home.

One of the best ways AU students, faculty and staff can get involved is through volunteering through AU’s official community engagement platform, JagPulse.

One of the featured initiatives is Jags Jump In, a student volunteer initiative hosted by the Office of Community Engagement, which helps lower barriers to service by providing transportation and structured opportunities for students. There will be six Jags Jump In events during the 2025-26 academic year, up from three last year.

“Jags Jump In is just one of the initiatives helping us create meaningful ways for students to connect with and give back to the community, made possible through our strong collaboration with Student Life and Engagement,” said Amanda Richardson, community engagement manager for the Office of Community Engagement.

One of the signature efforts of Jags Jump In is a partnership with Project Refresh, a nonprofit organization that provides mobile showers and other essentials to individuals who are unhoused or facing housing insecurity. Brittany Hutto, the executive director of Project Refresh, started the program in 2020 to offer support to the unhoused of Augusta through a first-of-its-kind service in the area eight times a month.

“The best way I know how to explain to people the importance of a shower is we all remember how it felt after not having a shower for several days, or maybe even weeks, after Hurricane Helene. That feeling you had when you finally were able to get a shower, that’s what our guests experience every time they shower because some of them have gone a week without a shower, and others have gone three to six months,” Hutto said.

Project Refresh has two ways it serves the community – one is to partner with other nonprofits and organizations working to make a difference with their own events, so they aren’t duplicating efforts or taking away from what others are doing. The other way is a standalone event each month at May Park.

But it’s more than just showers offered. On the last workday of each month, Project Refresh partners with the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Richmond County office to bring services to May Park in downtown Augusta. From 9 a.m. to noon, guests can access shower facilities, hygiene kits, clothing, health resources and more. Augusta University volunteers assist with everything from setting up to welcoming guests, distributing supplies to cleaning shower units between uses and helping guests find what they are looking for at the different tables.

“We have a monthly refresh program where we give our feminine guests a month’s worth of feminine hygiene products. It’s everything they need for their menstrual cycle,” Hutto said. “We also have a shoe program called ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’ where we give our guests shoes every 90 days. And then our team has members who are nurses and occupational therapists, so we also do a lot of wound care, care for diabetics and other health-related care.”

By going to different parts of the CSRA, the Project Refresh team has built a rapport with those they are helping. Many of the faces have become familiar to Hutto and her staff, and they have formed bonds and connections to the point that they are able to call each guest by their first name, and it shows how much that means for the guests to be recognized and cared for.

“We had a gentleman we were trying to help with resume building. He came to one of our events and said, ‘I’m not going to get a job right now. I’m going to check myself into rehab. You guys have been more like a family to me than anything I’ve ever experienced, and you’ve reminded me of the fact that I have value and worth,’” Hutto said. “To me, that’s the impact of a shower. It’s giving someone the reminder that they have value and worth as a person. It’s helping them feel like a new shiny penny when they come out, so they feel good. They’re ready to conquer the world and do something different.”

Christopher Vega is one of those helped by these events. Vega visited Project Refresh during the April event at May Park, and while there, he not only received a shower but got a haircut and shave and picked up some supplies to help him as he continues to look for work.

“It reinforces the idea that there are good people out there still, and no matter what you’re going through, as long as you have those community ties, that nothing is out of reach,” he said. “It really does bring hope, because sometimes I just feel like so, so low. But then I hear this is happening. It brings me back up. It brings my head back up above water, so to speak, and I don’t feel like I’m drowning anymore.”

Outside of helping with the necessities, Vega enjoys the camaraderie and rapport he and others have developed with the Project Refresh team. And he appreciates how they and other volunteers take the time to put their hands out to offer help but also get to know him and his fellow guests.

“The special thing about this place is the real love and how it feels like a family,” Vega said. “You can find real love if you’re looking for it, and all you have to do is put yourself out there. No matter how dirty and bad you feel about yourself, don’t hide away from people who are trying to help you.”

The experience is equally impactful for AU volunteers. Students, faculty and staff work side by side to set up health fair tables, run intake forms and provide direct support to guests. Groups often include students from across disciplines and AU’s 11 colleges and schools, who put their training into practice while making connections within the community.

Kara Jones, a graduate student in the Master of Science in Allied Health with a Concentration in Nutrition with a dietetic internship program within the College of Allied Health Sciences, decided to join a couple of classmates at the April event. The trio helped with signups and cleaning the showers in between guests.

While Jones has put her nutrition and dietetics studies to work by volunteering in soup kitchens before, this was the first time she had volunteered with a mobile shower unit, and she sees how the benefit can go further than just feeling clean due to the positivity it has on a person’s mental health.

“I did a mental health minor in undergrad because all of our health goes together – mental health and your physical health. It all works toward your overall well-being,” Jones said. “If you don’t have the means to take a shower, then that really doesn’t make you feel like a person anymore.”

Ella Biddy, another AU student at the April event who is studying dietetics, enjoys volunteering and being around others who are like-minded in their goal of helping others. She also recognizes how the energy of the volunteers impacts the energy of those being helped.

“The positive energy from an event like this is a huge thing, especially for the community and the people who have trouble with access to food, housing and other necessities,” Biddy said. “Your physical health affects your mental health, so if you have poor mental health, it can be harder to take care of your physical health or to seek out the proper attention.”

She sees the importance of AU being represented by students, faculty and staff at volunteer events.

“It really helps students, faculty and staff connect with the community,” Biddy said. “It’s really important to get AU students, faculty and staff involved in the community, helping with projects like Project Refresh and others, because it’s really good to give back, but also it gives them an idea of maybe where they want to be or who they want to help as they’re thinking about their career and what paths they take in life.”

“It’s imperative because the students are building skill sets, and it’s giving the students an opportunity to serve those who can’t maybe get services elsewhere,” Hutto said. “Community is huge. If our guests here are failing, then our community is eventually going to fail. There are so many different ways you can serve nonprofits. It’s really cool to have students come in and say, ‘We’d love to take on this project and actually build something that we can use in real life,’ and we will use it. So I think that’s cool.”

Looking for more ways like Project Refresh to get involved with AU’s community engagement efforts? Check out JagPulse, AU’s community engagement platform, where you can search for upcoming volunteer opportunities, track your service and even print a summary of your volunteer hours.