The Fuller Center to dedicate Veterans Village on June 1
The Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA will dedicate its Veterans Village Initiative on June 1.
“Our Veterans Village Initiative is a specific project that targets veterans in need of decent and affordable housing,” said Fuller Center Executive Director Lee A. Jeter Sr.
With the financial assistance of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and The Bob Woodruff Foundation, the initiative will build 11 homes for veterans. Jeter said four of the 11 homes will be completed by the June 1 dedication.
The Veterans Village is located on Martha Street, a dead-end street just east of Youree Drive off East Olive.
“Our intention is to turn this into a cul-de-sac,” Jeter said.
As a member of the U.S. Army, veteran Cliff Malone served in both Desert Storm and in Iraq. He served in the Army from 1989 until 2004 and even served in the Reserves after that. However, he found himself in a position where he was unable to obtain home ownership.
The Fuller Center has changed that situation, as he will be one of the 11 recipients of the new homes in Veteran’s Village.
“They are certainly taking a load off of me,” Malone said.
“They gave me free classes on how to repair and maintain credit ratings and how to budget,” Malone said.
“They got me ready for the responsibilities of having a mortgage and owning a home. It is a feeling I can’t express. I am so grateful.”
Fuller Center board member Crystal Allen Dallas is excited to see the Veteran’s Village project coming to fruition.
“The Fuller Center’s Veteran’s Village project has created a wonderful opportunity for us as citizens to show our appreciation to these veterans for their service to our nation. It makes me proud to have been involved in such a great community project,” Dallas said.
“However, the Veteran’s Village project does not distract us from continuing with our goals in Allendale, Cedar Grove or Bossier City to build homes for the families unable to own a home through the traditional process due to their income,” Jeter said. “We remain focused on helping all citizens in the community willing to take the steps necessary to become homeowners and contribute to a healthy community. Our model is one of providing families a hand up instead of a hand out.”
For the Fuller Center, the components of someone being ready for home ownership involves being mentally and financially committed to handle all the responsibilities of owning a home.
“The veterans who are moving into one of our homes must be in a position to manage, [including addictions], their monetary issues and have resolved any pre-existing legal issues,” Jeter said.
“Another requirement we have is that they also must have stable employment, because they will have a mortgage.”
Since its inception in 2005, the Fuller Center has built 45 new, affordable 1,200-1,500-square-feet homes in Shreveport-Bossier City and has renovated 53 owner-occupied homes.
Those new homes have provided housing for more than 120 individuals, and the repair projects have benefited at least 130 individuals. At this time, 95 percent of the original homeowners are still in their homes.
“We are hoping that the tremendous support we have received from Roger Waters and The Bob Woodruff Foundation will encourage others to help us achieve our goal of raising funds for an additional seven homes to complete the Veterans Village, 17 additional homes in Allendale and an equal number of homes in the Cedar Grove community,” Jeter said.
Recently, musician John Mayer was in town working as a volunteer, helping The Fuller Center build the homes.
In addition to help from such highprofile celebrities as Waters, Mayer and The Woodruff Foundation, an increasing number of locals are also joining the cause.
“The local volunteer support has been tremendous for the Veteran’s Initiative. We also need the same spirit of support for the other projects that we have in development,” Jeter said.
– Karl Hasten
