After a bit of a hiatus from blogging, I've decided to use this Fuller Center General blog space each week to give folks (as a Southerner, I reserve the right to use “folks” often) a rundown of some of the week's events and upcoming opportunities.
The office was closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so I took a drive up to Macon to visit with Fuller Center of Macon leader Dianne Fuller, whose covenant partner chose that Day of Service to begin work on its first Save a House/Make a Home project. Save a House is a perfect fit for Macon, a city with a lot of housing need and a lot of vacant houses that can be made into wonderful homes again with your help.
A team of Mercer University students associated with LEAP (Local Engagement Against Poverty) was there to get the repair work rolling. I also had a chance to meet the homeowner partners — Teresa and Abusomwan West and their son Abusomwan Jr. and nephew Cobe — and their soon-to-be next-door neighbor, Barbara Penniman, second cousin to one of Macon's most famous natives, Little Richard.
By Kirk Lyman-Barner
Director of U.S. Field Operations
I’m writing my final blog report from this 2,750-mile journey from our home town of Americus.The feeling of arriving home after such a long trip is wonderful.As I was turning onto Lakewood Avenue, I thought about how blessed our family really is.I imagine that that’s the way our partner families feel about their new and fixed up homes, too.
My final stop was at a wonderful restaurant called El Rio Grande which is located on the Millard Fuller Memorial Highway in Lanett, Alabama. Visiting Millard's boyhood hometown was a fitting conclusion for a road trip upon which I met people who are carrying on the vision Millard challenged the world with over 40 years ago.
I had a great conversation with some members of the Chattahoochee Valley Fuller Center Project and their dynamic leader, Kim Roberts.Though this was my 6th visit to Lanett, Kim and I had never had the opportunity to get to know each other very well. So we visited for 3 hours on Wednesday and made a pledge to talk with each other by phone at least once a month.
The Fuller Center for Housing has a lot of friends.While our mission focuses on housing we are committed to building decent homes in decent communities.Our partnerships with organizations such as Community Renewal International, Youth Build, and a host of other like-minded service organizations helps us deliver on the decent communities mission especially when we need help with tasks that fall beyond our expertise or capacity.By partnering with other organizations we engage the community in what Millard Fuller wrote about in his More Than Houses book.
Today’s journey allowed me to drop in the office of some dear friends Dolphus and Rosie Weary’s Rural Education and Leadership Christian Foundation (R.E.A.L.) which is located in Richland, Mississippi just south of Jackson.Dolphus and Rosie were off on an engagement in Seattle, but I was able to meet up with their staff Linda Jackson, their son Ryan Weary and Virginia Chase.We had a great time visiting and thinking about ways we could over the next few months formalize a mission partnership agreement. Linda grew up in Shreveport in the Allendale neighborhood and had not heard about the work we are doing there. Now she is anxious to go visit her hometown.
By Chris Johnson,
My final stop was at a wonderful restaurant called El Rio Grande which is located on the Millard Fuller Memorial Highway in Lanett, Alabama. Visiting Millard's boyhood hometown was a fitting conclusion for a road trip upon which I met people who are carrying on the vision Millard challenged the world with over 40 years ago.
Today’s journey allowed me to drop in the office of some dear friends Dolphus and Rosie Weary’s