Building bridges one home at a time
Catherine Meeks
Last week Leadership Macon presented the Robert B. Hatcher Distinguished Alumnus Award to Bruce Gerwig of the Macon Housing Authority for his work in helping to create better housing conditions. The work that most impressed the selection committee is Rebuilding Together, formerly known as Christmas in April. As many of you know, this organization oversees hundreds of house repair projects for families who cannot afford to do the work themselves and for some persons who are ill or too old to take care of their homes. It is a marvelous opportunity to build bridges in our community across lines of race and class.
Another example of this type of bridge building took place in North Korea with the Fuller Center for Housing groundbreaking for a project that will build 50 new homes in a self-sustaining community at Osan-Ri, an area that was heavily devastated by Typhoon Ewiniar in 2006. Dr. Han Park at the University of Georgia has been working to make this project a reality for three years and it is beginning. Even though the housing will be a wonderful addition to the community, this also is an opportunity to begin to build trust that can become a part of the foundation for peace. Park is a long time advocate of improving relations between the United States and North Korea.
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