Meet "Big Red"...

Trailer Donated to the HCFC by Ms. Joyce

A few weeks ago I was carrying on business as usual, and as I walked over to Ms. Joyce's desk (she volunteers over at Connecting Henry), she looked up from her computer and said to me in her sweet southern voice, "I noticed that y'all were looking for a Trailer for the Fuller Center......it's not an enclosed one but I believe I have a 4x8 in the garage that y'all can have. It's just been sitting there for God knows how long."  - I almost spilled my coffee!


Thanks to the wonderful and generous Ms. Joyce Rodgers, the Henry County Fuller Center now has a small trailer that we can use to load up with tools and building materials as we head over to our next project(s).  In the short time that I have lived in Henry County, I have met some of the most passionate & caring people who are always looking out for you and always looking to make a difference in their own way.  And if you know this family, you know that the apple does not fall far from the tree! Both Ms. Joyce  and Denese have been the HCFC's biggest supporters and cheerleaders from Day One. We would like to say THANK YOU to the Rodgers, from the bottom of our hearts!

For more information about Fuller Center and the Henry County Fuller Center, please visit www.fullercenter.org and www.hcfullercenter.org.

Shane A. Persaud
(678) 699-2308 or info@hcfullercenter.org
President/Volunteer, Henry County Fuller Center for Housing, Inc.

Stockbridge teen benefits from Henry County Fuller For Housing, Inc.Center

Article courtesy of Henry County Times©

Jacob Adams with 4-year-old sister Avery enjoy a day out at Stone Mountain.

By Cristy Smith
Staff writer

Most all of us know what it is like to be a teenager eager for more independence and so badly wanting to inch further and further away from the nest. But what if you were a teenager unable to walk?

Jacob Adams, 14, was diagnosed before birth, with Spina Bifida, a condition where the backbone and spinal canal do not close, and he has never known that independence.

“He is unable to go outside by himself, and he has to crawl to get to his bathroom,” explained Carrie Adams, Jacob’s mom.

But thanks to the Henry County Fuller Center, a non-profit housing organization, and the employees from the True Value Regional Distribution Center in Jonesboro, Jacob now has a direct route from his bedroom to his bathroom. A wheelchair friendly door was added to Jacob’s bathroom entrance from his bedroom, handicap bars were added to the bathroom, and a wall-hung sink in the kitchen that he can access easily, and a 10’ by 10’ deck with ramp were constructed on the rear of the Adams’ home.

Henry County Fuller Center volunteers partnered with the True Value employees this past weekend to upgrade Jacob’s home to American Disability Act (ADA) standards.

Not only does Jacob have to go through extreme measures to do what most would consider being simple tasks, but it has also been taking a toll on his body and even more importantly, his spine, making this project that much more urgent. These additions will give Jacob more independence and lessen the stress on his spine.

“Jacob has scoliosis and has had a complete spinal fusion where they straighten the vertebrae and insert a rod and wiring which is tough on his spine… usually it’s just a portion of someone’s spine that this is done to, but this had to be done to his entire backbone,” said Carrie. “I really worried about him crawling from his bedroom to the bathroom.”

Now that Jacob is able to get himself around, his 4-year-old sister Avery will not have as much fun pushing him around in his wheelchair inside the house.

“Avery really enjoys pushing her big brother around and helping him out,” said Carrie. “Even though they’re 10 years apart they are very close.”

The modifications made to his room and bathroom have Jacob enjoying his teenage independence and has allowed him more time to do activities like watching wrestling, listening to music, playing guitar and drums, playing on his PlayStation and facebooking.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

“Jacob keeps telling me he loves his new bachelor pad,” laughed Carrie. “It really is quite amazing what they did. It’s perfect.”

According to Shane Persaud, President of the Henry County Fuller Center, anyone living in substandard housing is eligible to apply for assistance from the organization.

For more information on The Henry County Fuller Center, to inquire about a housing application, or to become a volunteer, visit their website at http://www.fullercenter.org or http://www.hcfullercenter.org.

True Value regional distribution center gives Henry County a big boost in volunteers

Fuller Center for Housing Henry County is helping 13-year-old Jacob, right, become more independent with its work at Jacob's home this Saturday.



The Fuller Center for Housing Henry County already had big plans this weekend – a roof repair in McDonough, Ga., and a project to make a Stockbridge home more accessible for a wheelchair-bound 13-year-old named Jacob.

Shane Persaud, director of the Henry County covenant partner, said Tuesday he is still drumming up funds for the two projects. But Persaud doesn't expect to expend a lot of effort trying to find volunteers to work this weekend.

The volunteers found him.

The True Value regional distribution center in nearby Jonesboro, Ga., contacted the Henry County FCH and said they were looking to do some volunteer work as part of the company's Day of Caring.

They called the right place.

“It's a huge deal,” Persaud said. “They are going to send 40 volunteers our way Saturday. So we're gonna split them up – send 20 to the roofing project and 20 to the ADA project.”

Persaud made that statement about 4 p.m. By 5 p.m., the number of volunteers looked to be around 45, according to Tony Carver, warehouse superintendent at the distribution center.

"The company has had the Day of Caring for a while, and we've been looking to get the distribution centers involved," said Carver, noting that other efforts to find volunteer projects garnered little response before someone told him they had heard UPS had enjoyed good working experiences with the Fuller Center. "So we called the Fuller Center, and they were very responsive."

Carver said that Persaud seemed overwhelmingly delighted with the volunteerism offered by the True Value RDC.

"I think Shane was expecting maybe 25 or 30," Carver said with a chuckle. "I've been pleasantly surprised with the participation. It looks like we'll have around 45, which is almost 50 percent of our workforce here. Coming out on a Saturday in the heat with kids starting school and some employees having to take kids off to college and such, I'm just real happy with the participation rate."

The family partnering to have the roofing work has informed Persaud that they would have family and friends do the work of tearing off the old roof Friday so that volunteers can get straight to work putting on the new roof Saturday.

“I got a good quote today (on the shingles),” Persaud said. “And I'd think with 20 volunteers and maybe 10 on the roof and an air compressor gun that we ought to be able to get that new roof on in two or three hours.”

As for the ADA project in Stockbridge, the team will be tackling three tasks: adding a kitchen sink at wheelchair height, widening a bathroom doorway and refitting the toilet, and building a wooden deck that is level with the hohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifuse and has a ramp.

“At 13, he's becoming more independent,” Persaud said of Jacob, who suffers from a fused spine and was supposed to be undergoing surgery Tuesday. “They have a concrete back deck now with about a 12-inch dropoff. We're going to replace it with a wooden deck flush with the main floor so that he can more easily get outside.”

Headquartered in Chicago, True Value Company is one of thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife world's largest retailer-owned hardware cooperatives with more than 5,000 independent retailers. The Fuller Center for Housing would like to thank the company and its generous team in Jonesboro for their outstanding support.

For more information about True Value, click here.

Want to get involved with Shane Persaud and FCH Henry County or donate to this weekend's work? Click here.