• Directly donate an item— You can purchase an item(s) from the supplier of your choice for delivery to Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA, or if you have a good working condition used item, please call us for a pickup or drop by our site office during normal working hours.

• Telephone us at (318) 221-7474 with your credit card number purchase an item for you.

Tools

• Milwaukee 1/2 In. Hole Hawg, Heavy-Duty [$299]
• Milwakee 18V Rechargeable Batteries [$80]

We use drills and other tools onsite that require these batteries which wear out with extend use.

Equipment

• Double Axle Enclosed Utility Trailer [$500-$5,000]

Any brand utility trailer with rear and side opening doors. for transporting equipment to and from the service sites.

Materials

• Lumber, windows, doors, plywood, etc

The more donated materials that we can receive, the more clients that we can serve.

Plants

• Any plants, trees, scrubs to provide basic landscape to our new homes.

Container

• Storage container for donated items

Building
To coordinate labor, plans, materials and family interests to build the finished product, “a simple, decent house in a decent community for God’s people in need.”

Church Relations
To cultivate Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA’s relationship with local churches, seek Covenant Churches, and maintain ties to currently involved churches.

Family Selection
The committee organizes and carries out application, interview, and selection processes. We find the families who fit the criteria of need for shelter, ability to make no-interest loan payments, and ability to partner with The Fuller Center for Housing.

Family Support
Works with families through sweat equity, home ownership education, home purchase process, adjustment to new responsibilities and continued partnership with the organization. The committee is responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating this aspect of the program.

Fund Raising
To raise sufficient money as determined by the Board of Directors to fund the needs of the organization in order that simple, decent housing can be built with Partner Families.

Legal
To provide a liaison with Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA’s attorney and monitor the legal needs and requirements of the organization, including insurances.

Office Support
This group staffs the office, which provides coordination and support for the organization.

Public Relations
Mission: To continually improve the community’s awareness of our work, recognize our participants, and encourage new donations of time and materials so more people have simple, affordable housing.

Site Selection
Identify potential sites, evaluate sites’ availability and appropriateness, evaluate sites suitability for affiliate’s basic house plans, develop a site acquisitions criteria policy for board approval, implement the board-approved site acquisition policy and maintain acquired sites.

Volunteer
Recruits, interviews, trains and coordinates volunteers to carry out Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA’s mission in NW Louisiana area.

The executive director of FCNWLA says he “learned a lot” during the Legacy Build and is ready to build two or three houses in March. To build three he needs $210,000.

He is also beginning to lay the foundation for building in other areas of town. He said, “There are people who need homes; there is property available.”

Jeter also wants organizations in those communities to step up and help through donations and volunteering.

In addition to building new houses, Jeter wants to expand the Greater Blessing repair and renovation program.

The program helps people who are homeowners get the repairs they may need but cannot afford.

A new endeavor in coming months will be involvement in lead abatement in houses built before 1978, especially those houses with minor children. Jeter said he had previously obtained a pamphlet
on lead poisoning so workers could be safe while doing rehab work. “I didn’t know it would become a focus area,” he said.

In the meantime, the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Services asked the center to get involved in solving the problem of lead poisoning. “First, I’m getting educated about lead poisoning,”
Jeter said. “Then I’ll pursue grant opportunities to address this issue.”

Jeter told of a client who may lose custody of a 4- year-old grandchild if they can’t address the problem. The client is disabled and on fixed income; moving is out of the question. “We need to step in and help them,” he said.

At last year’s conference in Virginia, Millard Fuller asked FCNWLA board members Becky Cooksey and Katie Weir to host the 2010 meeting.

Beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, the various sessions will be held at First United Methodist Church. The Saturday afternoon sessions end with a tour of Allendale, which the Fuller Center calls its “flagship” building site.

Dinner will follow with Linda Fuller, cofounder of the Fuller Center for Housing, speaking. Attendance at a Sunday worship service is optional.

Local home owner Phyllis Davis has been selected to speak at Friday’s dinner.

Lee Jeter, FCNWLA executive director, said he is proud to host the event and “to showcase what we’ve built, all our partners and our city.”

The conference will cover over 13 topics. Weir said that the essential idea she formed at last year’s meeting is the “importance of partnering with entities in the community.” Several of the conference’s sessions address this concern.

Weir also is interested in the session labeled, “ReUse Store Strategies.” She said this is about creating an income source from the reselling of donated items. “For example,” Weir said, “many stores will donate items that they can’t sell because of imperfections.”

Groups that receive these items may not be able to use them in their building projects but can resell them for operating revenue.

2009 Conference

Participants in the conference will be staying at the Downtown Holiday Inn on Lake Street and will be transported to the church and other venues.

Weir said that they will need about 15 local volunteers to help with the conference in areas such as meals, registration and transportation. She hopes that many FCNWLA board members will be able to participate.

Register At FullerCenter.org – Put on your Google Calendar

“The floors are cracked,” said Brazile. “We have holes in the walls. The doors aren’t even with the thing so a lot of wind comes through and we don’t have any source of heat except the stove and a couple electric heaters.”

Just last week an anonymous good Samaritan learned about Brazile’s situation and called Shreveport police hoping to help.

“Most people call to put people down but they were concerned enough to try to get some help and not try to hurt me,” said Brazile. “I’m overwhelmed.”

Shreveport Police Department Corporal Mike Dunn and Sandra Lister went to work.

“When I called businesses some of them I didn’t tell what I wanted I just told them I had a family I wanted them to meet and when they came out they felt compelled to do it for me,” said Lister.

Within days help poured in. Wilbert Williams with Mt. Mariah Baptist Church will donate $500.00. Calvin and Delores Johnson’s Motorcycle Club will donate a sink and a monetary gift. Richard Rascoe with the Whitlock Plumbing Company will complete all of Brazile’s plumbing work for free.

“If you come to our church and say you need help we will open our doors and our hearts because that’s what Jesus did,” said Williams.

“Some have and some have not,” said Johnson. “It’s always been a close thing to our hearts to help put back into the community.”

“I want to get everything going for her and take care of those little ones and be able to clean up,” said Rascoe.

The outpouring of love is a Christmas miracle Brazile never thought she would receive.

“If I thanked them all day and all night and all month and all year it really wouldn’t be enough,” said Brazile.

C.J. Enterprises has donated $1000.00 to the Brazile family and challenges other businesses to do the same.

The future is looking even brighter for Brazile and her children. Shreveport’s Fuller Center for Housing is currently helping Brazile apply for a brand new home through its program.

© Amber Miller /KTAL

You do not need to be an expert in construction to help out on a work site. There are many tasks that require only a willingness to learn and work with others. On-site construction work is the most popular of FCH’s volunteer opportunities.

We make every effort to incorporate all willing volunteers regardless of skill level. All volunteers on the construction site must be at least 16 years of age or older. We will work rain or shine!

To volunteer with us, please fill out a Volunteer Information Form and Skills Survey.

It’s quick and simple to find out where we have volunteer needs, and to sign up with us for those. Just visit our volunteer calendar, find an opportunity that suits your interests and availability, and click on the event to sign up.

“…For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask more.” Luke 12:48

PDFs:

Fuller Center NWLA Registration and Waiver

The area’s story is no secret. Formerly thriving blocks decayed into buildingless, overgrown lots. But that is changing slowly.

Nonprofits and churches such as People of Praise, Community Renewal International, Habitat for Humanity, Mt. Canaan and Galilee Baptist churches and the Fuller Center for Housing have built dozens of homes and apartments that provide housing below market and at competitive prices. That has happened in conjunction with government plus help from private businesses.

But residences alone can’t restore a place, according to elected and unofficial community leaders. So commerce and other amenities must come next.

Allendale native Claude Marshall is trying to do that with his family’s Dale Street Grocery and Deli. The business has been open nearly a year in a building that housed a former store before it burned.

Garden of Hope - © Douglas Collier/The Times

Marshall takes a hyper local approach in his enterprise. He doesn’t sell alcohol — “seeing as how it’s destroyed the neighborhood” — and is hoping to get involved with WIC — which stands for Women, Infants, and Children — and provides money to get food for mothers and their young children.

“When you’ve got to pay somebody $5 to get something that cost $2, it just wouldn’t be feasible,” Marshall said, alluding to the cost of taxis or public transportation being too expensive. “They want something to eat without having to walk a long way to get it.”

Marshall, 55, is glad his business has seen its first Thanksgiving: “I’m in the black. I’m not in the red. I thank the loyal customers that come in every day.”

Shreveport City Councilman Calvin Lester, who has represented the neighborhoods since 2002, is thankful for business owners like Marshall.

“We have built houses and we have put people in those houses. But the thing that needs to happen now is focusing on the entrepreneurial opportunities and the economic development for the area,” Lester said. “I have said that there are some things that government does well, and there’s others it does not. I think government can build houses, but it takes more than just governmental intervention to rebuild communities.”

Empty parcels of land don’t just happen. Between 1970 and 2000, the population in Allendale shrank from 16,247 to 5,982. During that same time, Shreveport’s total residents grew nearly 10 percent from 182,064 to 200,145.

But besides new houses, Allendale and Ledbetter Heights residents have found other creative ways to rebuild.

The appropriately named Rosie Chaffold takes care of the Allendale Garden of Hope and Love. She’s a familiar face to neighbors — who honked and waved while driving by on a recent Tuesday — and she’s received media attention and accolades over the years for her work with dirt.

With lots of help from the LSU AgCenter and volunteers from outside the neighborhood, she provides plenty of green stuff for neighbors to eat, free of charge, plus well-kept flower beds. And all on a street corner where she and police say folks used to meet “for something stronger than that — something illegal.” And that would have been drugs.

But since 2001, Chaffold said, neighbors who used to ask her why she tried to make a difference occasionally stop by to help her with gardening. Now she feels gratified but hopes more nearby residents will join her. The work and the food, she said, are the bounty.

“When you’re in a garden you feel like you’re next to God, close to the Earth,” said Chaffold, a Mer Rouge native who has called Allendale home for more than three decades.

Ruth Peace has seen more changes in Allendale than Chaffold. The 89-year-old woman has lived on Buena Vista Street, where she raised a family with her late husband, since 1960. She eats a vegetable or two from the community garden now and then, and she appreciates the work that goes into it.

“I’ll be 90 years old come next August, so you know I have a whole lot to be thankful for,” Peace said. “It has changed. But there’s always room for improvement.”

By Adam Kealoha Causey • acausey@gannett.com

Source: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20091128/NEWS01/911280318/1060

Or mail donations to:

Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana
P.O. Box 3173
Shreveport, LA 71133

We raise all our funds locally. We support the efforts of The Fuller Center for Housing International by tithing 10% of all donations, unless the donation is restricted to be used in the NW Louisiana area. You may make a one time gift or a monthly pledge to The Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA.

Other Giving Options
Please contact the Executive Director to discuss the following giving options:

Land
Donate your property. We do not purchase property and we do not mediate heirship issues.
Matching Gifts
Ever wish you could multiply your gift to Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA? Here is a way-employer matching contributions. Thousands of companies have Matching Gift programs which double, or even triple individual, tax-deductible contributions made by their employees. Check our list of Matching Gift partners or ask your personnel office about your company’s Matching Gift program.

The process is simple: ask if your company has a Matching Gift program. If so, obtain a matching gift form from your personnel office or matching gift coordinator, fill it out completely and send it along with your contribution to: Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA, P.O. BOX 3173 Shreveport, LA 71133.  We will complete the form and submit it to your employer.  It’s as easy as that!

Your gift and your company’s matching contribution will help Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA reach our goal of eliminating poverty housing. You can help make a difference–one house, one family at a time!

Vehicle Donations
Donate your old car to FCHNWLA and help fund a new, affordable home! Your car, boat, camper or truck might just help a family build the home of their dreams. Please visit our Cars for Homes page for more information.
Planned Giving
Many of our partners support FCHNWLA through planned gifts, which may qualify for significant tax deductions. Giving options include bequests, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts. To find out how you can financially benefit Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA and provide a lasting legacy, contact us.
Stocks and Bond Gifts
A charitable gift of stocks or bonds provides an opportunity for tax savings while generously sharing with others. A gift of stock owned for more than one year entitles you to a charitable deduction for the full market value at the time the gift is made. If the stock has appreciated, you also avoid a capital gains tax on the appreciation. In addition to helping FCHNWLA, you may diversify away from low-basis, long-term holdings into other assets that will better suit your current needs.

We are committed to good stewardship, and we promise to keep our administrative costs low to assure you that the vast majority of your gifts will fund home-building. We will select the recipients of our funds carefully to further assure you that your gifts are put to good service.

Our goal is to be obedient to God’s revelation and the teachings of Jesus Christ as we witness to His love by providing opportunities for families everywhere to have a simple, decent place to live.

Please contact us about becoming a partner in this exciting, dynamic organization.

Home Owner Application

1. You will be considered for a FCHNWLA home if your present housing is not adequate, and if you are unable to obtain adequate housing through other conventional means.

Lack of adequate housing may include problems with the present structure; water, electrical or sewage service systems; heating system, or failure to meet city property maintenance standards. Also taken into consideration are the number, the ages and the gender of children compared to the number of bedrooms in your present home.

2. The percentage of your monthly income that you currently spend on housing is considered to determine need. You will be required to openly and fully discuss your financial situation with FCHNWLA personnel.

3. You and your family will be considered if your annual total income is between 25-50% of the median income for NW Louisiana area. We will consider individuals below the minimum income guidelines providing all other qualifications are met.

Basic Credit Requirements/Guidelines
Your income must fall within the income limits described below:

Number in the Family                     Gross Annual Income Range
1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$11,100 to $29,500
2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$12,650 to $33,700
3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$14,250 to $37,900
4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$15,800 to $42,100
5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$17,100 to $45,500
6~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$18,350 to $48,850
7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$19,600 to $52,250
8~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$20,900 to $55,600

If you filed for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy:
1. You must obtain permission from your trustee to obtain additional debt
2. Your most recent 12 months of bankruptcy payments must have been made on time
3. There must be no new collections or charge-offs or late pays AFTER the bankruptcy

If filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy:
1. You must have discharge papers from your attorney
2. Eligibility is accepted 18 months after the discharge date
3. Some form of traditional credit must be re-established
4. Absolutely no charge-offs, collection of late payments are accepted after the bankruptcy

The following documents may be requested:
1. Completed Application
2. Authorization to release information
3. Most recent pay stubs
4. Public assistance income documents
5. Award letters
6. Divorce Decree
7. Bankruptcy Papers
8. Copy of State issued ID card or driver’s license
9. Copy of Social Security Card

If you need immediate housing assistance or don’t think FCH is the right program for you at this time, please contact:

• CADDO Community Action Agency – 4055 St. Vincent Avenue, Shrevport, LA 71103 (318) 861-4808
• Centerpoint Community Services – 2121 Fairfield Avenue, Suite 130 Shreveport, LA 71104 (318) 227-2100
• Christian Service Program – 1244 Sprague Street Shreveport, LA 71101 (318) 221-4857
• Providence House – 814 Cotton Street, Shreveport, LA 71101 (318) 221-7887
• Salvation Army – 200 E. Stoner Ave. Shreveport, LA 71101 (318) 424-3200
• Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission – 901 McNeil Street, Shreveport, LA 71101 (318) 227-2868
• YMCA of Northwest LA – 400 McNeill Street Shreveport, LA 71101 (318) 674-9622

Goals and Objectives:

• The Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana (FCHNWLA) was founded in 2005 in response to the housing crisis created in Shreveport by the influx of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. In partnership with Community Renewal International (CRI), the City of Shreveport, and local faith-based organizations, property, volunteers and materials were secured to initially renew the Allendale neighborhood, bringing new life to a once crime- and violence-ridden community.

  Hurricane evacuee families have found new homes and new hope on “Higher Ground” in Shreveport. The Fuller Center, along with CRI, committed to build at 60 new houses for hurricane residents in need in Shreveport.

  The FCHNWLA transferred to local management in January, 2008 and has continued to transform this community in a community of hope and love, a community where children feel safe and new and existing homeowner are coming together to share ideals and ways to improve this community for all residents.

Description of services, programs, or activities of organizations:

The FCHNWLA does not give houses away. Less than 20% of applicants qualify to become homeowners.

Recipients must perform 350 hours of “sweat equity,” attend a first-time homebuyer’s workshop, as well as go through credit counseling and other reviews in the application process. The recipients then pay a 20-year mortgage with no interest, the proceeds of which are returned to the organization to pay for new homes, rehabilitations, land acquisition and other program expenses.

Homeowners are encourage to become part of a neighborhood watch program, participate in quarterly meeting to discuss ideals and community needs, and meet with community liaison officers and code enforcement officer to maintain a dialogue and discuss ways to keep the community and it’s resident safe and secure.

Beneficiaries of the house rehabilitations program receives minor home repairs, handicapped accessible ramps, and/or exterior home painting to improve this quality of life and provide a face lift to existing owner occupied homes.

This program is primarily geared toward those that are elderly and/or disable homeowners on a fixed income and they are asked to participate in the “Greater Blessing” program, which encourages a tithing to the organization to assist with the cost of rehabilitation to provide for future recipients needs.

The overall benefit of this program is that home-ownership is created for individuals that otherwise would never experience the “American Dream” of home ownership. Substandard housing, blight and crime is reduced in the community, and individuals that have been living at or below the poverty level can experience the joy of owning a home and begin a systemic process of lifting themselves out of poverty.

Poverty blights the life chances of far too many children in our State and local area which is why we are absolutely determined to provide opportunities for individuals living in poverty to own a home thus encouraging work among parent(s), increasing social mobility and putting the poorest families on the path to success thereby breaking the cycles of poverty passing from one generation to the next.