Volunteers build new Fuller Center houses

"This strengthens our belief

that we can change the world

one person at a time"

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When Mark and Melissa Roberts’ children said they would not be home for spring break this year, but instead were going to Shreveport, La., to help build houses for families in need, these two parents had just one thought: Sign us up!

The Roberts’ family joined volunteers from Idaho, Minnesota, Texas and Louisiana for the Building on Higher Ground initiative – a partnership between Community Renewal International and The Fuller Center for Housing.

Two more houses were started in March as part of The Fuller Center’s Fifth Anniversary build, bringing the total in Shreveport’s Allendale neighborhood to 42 beautiful new homes for both Hurricane Katrina evacuees and local residents.

“I would like for this to be a tradition. Last spring break, we went to South Padre Island and had fun, but I enjoyed this more,” Melissa said.

The Roberts’ live near Houston, Texas, where Mark works as a microbiologist. Son Joe and daughter Anna are both in Idaho, he as an AmeriCorp leader and she as a junior at the University of Idaho. Wesley, 8, also came with his parents to Shreveport.

“This is phenomenal and this is a good experience for all of us. It’s been much more than I expected,” Mark said.

The intense first week of building showed what community renewal is all about – caring partners coming together to build stronger, safer communities where children can grow up safe and loved.

David Snell, president of The Fuller Center for Housing, credited Community Renewal with preparing the way for transformation.

“I want to say thank you to the good people of Shreveport and to Community Renewal,” he said. “This is how a community changes for the better.”

A dozen students from the University of Idaho spent spring break in Shreveport to work with The Fuller Center, joining teams from Texas and Louisiana. More than 40 students from the University of Minnesota stopped to help one morning while on their way to a project in New Orleans.

Katherine Gavin, 20, student leader for the Idaho group, said this was a spring break that could change a person’s life.

“It makes you a better person,” she said. “I see it as more about the people than the houses. Ten years later, we will remember the people.”

Nicole Fisher, 19 and a freshman, said the trip was worth it to her when she met the homeowners.

“When I saw their faces, I knew I was needed and that was very touching. It was great working with them. I definitely want to do this next year,” she said.

Leon Cassidy, a chemical engineering senior at the University of Minnesota who is originally from Nigeria, was a student leader on his school’s Students Today Leaders Forever “Pay It Forward Tour.”

“We are really excited about this because we can help people and see the people we are helping. This strengthens our belief that we can change the world one person at a time,” he said.

Not all volunteers were students. Morris Sinor, 70, and his wife Cynde came from Fort Worth to help.

“We have been very lucky in our lives and people helped us when we needed help. And now we want to give back,” said Morris, a lawyer. “If you can touch even one life, that is your reward.”

Delisa Robinson is one of the new homeowners.

“This is our first home. I feel blessed all day every day. I thank God for all the volunteers,” she said. She lives with her son Leon, 16.

“This will help give my son responsibility and help him keep his grades up. He is already giving back and helping others,” she said. “And now I want to help others like I have been helped.” 

Homeowner Yolanda Braziel said the Idaho students became part of her family.

“They came so far and they have worked so hard. It just overwhelms me. They put their heart and soul in it, like they are the ones living there,” she said.

Yolanda, who lost her job when the restaurant where she worked was damaged by fire, will share the four-bedroom house with her seven children and one grandchild, many of whom have been at the construction site doing what they could to help.

She was especially excited about having something most families take for granted: a living room where they could all be together. In the house where they had been living, she had to turn the living room into a bedroom.

Yolanda grew up in the Allendale neighborhood and remembers it as a high-crime area with gang members and drug dealers on the street at night. She says the transformation in the area around the Community Renewal Friendship Houses and the houses built by The Fuller Center is just remarkable.

“Now it’s peaceful and quiet. There are new houses and beautiful yards and children playing outside,” she said. “It’s wonderful now.”