Shane Persaud sure can be an aggravating guy for a communications director. I told him as much yesterday. Right to his face. Well, over the phone, but I'm sure his face was somewhere close to his phone.
See, Shane is so efficient and gets so many things done through the Henry County Fuller Centerfor Housing in McDonough, Ga., that, well, it's kind of hard to keep up with the guy. And he has the nerve to often team up with Mark Galey of the Greater Atlanta Fuller Center and expand their efforts exponentially, helping folks left and right like some kind of affordable housing Batman and Robin. See what I mean? Aggravating!
I've been trying to check in with covenant partners this week and just kind of touch base to see what's going on now and what's on the horizon. I should have known better than to call and ask Shane if he had anything going on, especially after he'd already been on the phone with Kirk Lyman-Barner discussing possibilities for a project using solar panels. Of course, he had plenty going on.
Despite the sweltering August heat and a relentless swarm of gnats, a youth group from Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Virginia spent the day in Americus reconstructing Queen E. White’s home on Koinonia Farm.
Two houses down and 42 years ago, the Fullers had just divested themselves of their wealth and were building a home for Queen E. White’s parents, Bo and Emma Johnson. The Johnsons’ home became the first of many constructed through the worldwide housing ministry – Habitat for Humanity – that the Fullers kicked off in the Congo in the 1970s.
"It's all in the family," White said.
In just a few short weeks, this remarkable story will be retraced by a few members of The Fuller Center staff and a United Church of Christ–sponsored delegation– Read more about that trip here – but the beginning of that story is still very much alive in White’s memory.
Birthdays are a big deal here at the Fuller Center for Housing. There are cakes and cards and flyovers by fighter jets. They gave me a real beatdown here last month for trying to slip my birthday under the radar with no one knowing about it. I was used to my last employer, where I'd say, “Hey, it's my birthday!” and they'd say, “And?”
Today is Richard Aguirre's birthday. Richard is our go-to guy for graphic and artistic needs. You've seen his work – on our new brochure, the newsletter many of you will get in the mail soon, the Bicycle Adventure team's trailer, etc. Since I work closely with Richard, I got the cake … AND the candles. So I went all out and forked out the $1.29 for the candles that keep relighting after you try to blow them out.
By Leah Gernetzke
Communications/multimedia specialist
In the United States, if you showed up on someone’s doorstep with a cow, the response elicited would not likely be one of gratitude.It would probably go more like this: “Um, what am I supposed to do with that?” (Looks around the yard. Neighbors peer skeptically).
But in the small Armenian village of Khachik, giving someone a cow is sort of like giving a choking person the Heimlich maneuver.
So when Heifer Armenia first came to the village in 2009 to give cows to families, you can imagine their excitement. They weren’t just getting cows – They were getting resources to generate income, a way to feed their families and the opportunity to stay in their native land rather than migrate to big cities in search of higher paying jobs.
Of course, they aren’t just “getting” the cows. Anyone who’s every tried to take care of one of these animals knows it’s hard work, so Heifer Armenia also provides training sessions.
Much of what I did in the newspaper business was page design -- front pages, sports pages, news pages, features pages, you name it. And one thing I learned over the years is that you can never go wrong by running pictures of babies, dogs or cute girls. They catch the eye, and then you can use that hook to tell your story.
So, welcome today's cute girl: Shopahaulik. Well, that's her nickname on YouTube anyway. Shopahaulik is using her YouTube channel to talk about the Ginger Ford Northshore Fuller Center and her grandmother ... who just happens to be Ginger Ford. I would tell you all about the Ginger Ford Northshore Fuller Center, but she does a better job. And Christine Dufreche is probably a little cuter than me. Although, I feel pretty.
n Church in Northern Virginia spent the day in Americus reconstructing Queen E. White’s home on Koinonia Farm. 
Birthdays are a big deal here at the Fuller Center for Housing. There are cakes and cards and flyovers by fighter jets. They gave me a real beatdown here last month for trying to slip my birthday under the radar with no one knowing about it. I was used to my last employer, where I'd say, “Hey, it's my birthday!” and they'd say, “And?”
do with that?” (Looks around the yard. Neighbors peer skeptically).