First there was the long winter where the roads to Terril, Iowa were nearly impassable. Then there were the Spring rains that made it muddy. Our homeowner partner, Lisa is in Le Mars with her daughter. Le Mars is down the road 98.7 miles from Terril. That's where the Jensens have been living when there was no affordable temporary housing available here in the Lakes area. Alex spent eighth grade at a new school. Lisa changed her entire plan for schooling and work. Their dog passed away.
We had a board member with cancer. Another is about to become a father for the sixth time. Some have had to take additional jobs or jobs out of town to make ends meet in this economy. One of our leaders has been living with a sustained illness that has caused overarching fatigue and sapped all energy.
It's been a tough year.
Alex is going into high school in the fall. She's been so helpful, so patient, and she made the most of her year as a Le Mars Bulldog by earning the most reading points in her school, and has a giant trophy to prove it. She needs her own room in her own house to display that trophy. She needs to bring her academic and athletic abilities home to Terril-Graettinger High School and make the transition to freshman year with her friends.
Mary turned two and is identifying Tyrannosaurus dinosaurs in pictures and displays. She loves books and is running around like a whirling dervish. She needs the security of being in her own home in her own town as she grows.
Lisa is anxious to put her talent for nursing and heart for the elderly to work here at home, and many assisted living and other facilities are hiring, waiting for someone like her to monitor the medical conditions and brighten the days of our elders.
This family needs to come home. We made a huge amount of progress on the house -- a near total remodel. It just is not quite enough to bring Lisa and her daughters home.
We're committed once again to being at the site each Saturday this summer. Ed Peterson is also committed to being there other times if we have a weekday crew that wants to come out.
We're regrouping, recovering, but we must move forward. The Fuller Center for Housing makes homes decent and livable for homeowners in need. We give a hand up, not a hand-out.
We need volunteers. If you're in Okoboji on the weekends, please consider coming out for part of a Saturday to swing a hammer. Or you could bring us lunch to the site. Or you could write a check for materials and other needs.
If ever there was a family that needed to come home, it's this one.
Bring them home.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
New Challenges; New Hope
It snowed and it snowed and it snowed.
Word from the tropics was tragic news when the earthquake hit Haiti January 12. As a housing ministry, the Fuller Center's global organization is getting ready to bring sturdy, affordable houses to Haitians who may never have had that before, and certainly need it now more than ever.
You can read more about efforts in Haiti here:
http://www.fullercenter.org/haiti
We hoped to send our executive director, Ed, and more team members to Haiti in March, but severe snowstorms have halted our efforts in our big project house in Terril, and for now, we need to dig out and get going again out there when it's passable and not too muddy.
The good news is, it's mostly inside work from here on out. And as the walls and floors come together on the inside, and the addition takes shape, the Jensen family will have a home to weather all the storms that may come in the future, and all the sunny days ahead, too.
Older daughter Alex will be in high school in the fall. Mary is starting to talk, her impish smile warming worried hearts surrounding her.
Lisa, the mom, looks forward to getting back to her community and to working with the elderly in assisted living and long term care homes. That's where her heart is, and she's great at it. Their series of temporary houses have worn on them, and we plan to work through the upcoming spring to get them into their house and enjoying their back porch by summer.
Can you help? Read about our beginnings and donate through the Fuller Center global organization here:
http://www.fullercenter.org/iowalakes
Contact Ed at 712-441-5437, email us at fullercenteriowalakes@gmail.com, or write us at P.O. Box 27, Fostoria, IA 51340.
Watch this video to learn more about the Fuller Center for Housing:
Word from the tropics was tragic news when the earthquake hit Haiti January 12. As a housing ministry, the Fuller Center's global organization is getting ready to bring sturdy, affordable houses to Haitians who may never have had that before, and certainly need it now more than ever.
You can read more about efforts in Haiti here:
http://www.fullercenter.org/haiti
We hoped to send our executive director, Ed, and more team members to Haiti in March, but severe snowstorms have halted our efforts in our big project house in Terril, and for now, we need to dig out and get going again out there when it's passable and not too muddy.
The good news is, it's mostly inside work from here on out. And as the walls and floors come together on the inside, and the addition takes shape, the Jensen family will have a home to weather all the storms that may come in the future, and all the sunny days ahead, too.
Older daughter Alex will be in high school in the fall. Mary is starting to talk, her impish smile warming worried hearts surrounding her.
Lisa, the mom, looks forward to getting back to her community and to working with the elderly in assisted living and long term care homes. That's where her heart is, and she's great at it. Their series of temporary houses have worn on them, and we plan to work through the upcoming spring to get them into their house and enjoying their back porch by summer.
Can you help? Read about our beginnings and donate through the Fuller Center global organization here:
http://www.fullercenter.org/iowalakes
Contact Ed at 712-441-5437, email us at fullercenteriowalakes@gmail.com, or write us at P.O. Box 27, Fostoria, IA 51340.
Watch this video to learn more about the Fuller Center for Housing:
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