It was a quite, solemn ride to Spalding County just a couple days after the storms to help with the tornado recovery, but it just looked like another ordinary Saturday ride in the country. Having stopped and got my biscuit and coffee, I noticed the boats behind the trucks presumably headed to the lake, the bicycles on the carrier off for a spin, folks setting up their yard sales and others getting ready @ the local flea market. Everybody seemed busy going somewhere, doing something. Everything seemed perfectly normal. I remember thinking if all these folks even REALLY knew what kind of damage there was just down the road from where they were. I mean we see the snippets and hear the sound-bites on TV and we’re wowed or whatever but did these folks REALLY understand? Did they REALLY know what needs there were just down the road? I even thought did they even care? Certainly if they knew they would do something. Right?
The first set of instructions Millard Fuller ever gave me to share with my friends and colleges of how they can help was these three things;
Help spread the word of The Fuller Center
Help raise donations
Help start other Fuller Centers.
I have learned in the last four years it definitely all begins with spreading the word.
So how do we get out the word about folks like Bobby & Anita Simpson whose home was severely damaged during the storms and need help rebuilding because their insurance coverage lapsed? Oops!! But now what? These working folks still need their home rebuilt. It’s probably going to take $4K or better to purchase the needed materials and some volunteers. Bobby & Anita are going to have get out there with us and rebuild their home along with the volunteers and they’re being asked to donate back what was donated to them into The Greater Blessing Box revolving fund that will help another family in the future in their time of need.
I’m sure we haven’t met who else we’re supposed to help yet but we’ll be led there accordingly. How will those folks like Bobby & Anita know there is help available? How will those folks who are capable of helping and most likely willing to help if only they knew, how can we reach them?
How can you help? What about making and delivering sack lunches for the construction volunteers?
What about blogging or posting info on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, ect?
What about come shoot pictures and/or video and put it up on YouTube with all the links? Do some interviews? Ask some questions. What about reaching out to all your media contacts and ask them to help spread the good word?
What about raising donations? Doing the reconstruction? Scouting for other needy families and victims of the tornados? What about contacting local churches, sharing what we’re doing and invite them to join us? Civic Groups? Lumber Yards? Paint Stores?
We plan on starting the reconstruction process on Bobby & Anita’s home May 14th, we don’t have all the details ironed out yet but we will be updating on all our sources as we have new information. Their home is located @ 5029 Old Atlanta Road, Hampton GA.
This effort is being channeled through The Henry County Fuller Center for Housing, with The Atlanta Fuller Center is redirecting its energy in collaboration for a time.I’m asking you for your help, find where you fit in, come be involved but just for a day, look in the eyes of the needy, hear their plight, stand where they are, let your heart lead you.
Mark Galey
Volunteer & President, Atlanta Fuller Center
"I see life as both a gift and a responsibility. My responsibility is to use what God has given me to help His people in need." - Millard Fuller
"I don’t think it's an exaggeration to say that Millard Fuller has literally revolutionized the concept of philanthropy." - Former President Bill Clinton
The Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Atlanta’s MissionThe Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Atlanta, faith-driven and Christ-centered, promotes collaborative and innovative partnerships with individuals, organizations, corporations, and religious groups of all faiths in an unrelenting quest to provide adequate shelter for all people in need in the Greater Atlanta area.
The Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Atlanta Organization The Fuller Center for Housing, a non-profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, was established in the spring of 2005 by Millard and Linda Fuller, who founded Habitat for Humanity. They had the simple but audacious goal of eliminating poverty housing worldwide, and the organizations they built have made remarkable progress toward that goal by providing decent homes for more than one million of the world’s poor. By forming partnerships with local organizations, The Fuller Center provides the structure, guidance and support that communities need to build and repair homes for the impoverished among them. The Fuller Center seeks to improve standards of living by helping those impoverished people help themselves. A Fuller Center home is not a hand out, but a hand up. By working alongside volunteers and repaying construction costs on terms they can afford, based on no-profit, no-interest loans, homeowners are able to regain a sense of basic human dignity. As of June 2010, The Fuller Center for Housing had 54 covenant partners in 26 states as well as 15 international covenant partners. The Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Atlanta is one of those Covenant Partners and proudly joins with volunteers, donors, and other organizations in an effort to provide adequate shelter for families in the Atlanta area.
