Fuller Center of Webster Parish has home blessing for 51st new house

Louisiana’s Fuller Center for Housing of Webster Parish dedicated its 51^st new home in September but this week had another ceremony at the home of Jennifer McCutcheon and her son, Nathan, with a few special guests.

“This was kind of a house blessing because we were waiting on Garvin and Betty Jabusch who had worked on the house to come in,” FCH Webster Parish Executive Director Derek Melancon said. “We had the family and a few other people who had helped on the house. We had a bigger dedication back in September. It was just a small blessing to say this house belongs to the Lord.”

Garvin and Betty Jabusch are prolific volunteers and staunch Fuller Center for Housing supporters from Newcastle, Calif., who have taken a particular interest in helping build energy-efficient homes in Webster Parish. They’ve worked on more than 115 homes dating back to their early days with Habitat for Humanity in the late 1980s.

“The fact that the folks we are working with in Springhill, Louisiana, are so interested in learning how to build energy-efficient houses is so important to us,” Garvin Jabusch told The Fuller Center in an earlier interview about their decision to join The Fuller Center’s Legacy Builders Circle, donors who have made planned gifts to help continue The Fuller Center’s work.

“We are so very grateful to Millard and Linda for providing a vehicle for us to serve our God and to meet and become friends with so many wonderful people,” Betty Jabusch added of the founders of The Fuller Center for Housing, Millard and Linda Fuller.

The Fuller Center of Webster Parish, meanwhile, is charging ahead with its work as it gets ready to work on building its 52^nd new home — an effort greatly aided by a recent $10,000 grant from The Hodgdon Foundation and a $10,000 gift from an anonymous donor. Earlier this week, the covenant partner accepted the donation of a lot with an old shack sitting on it. The shack will be torn down to make way for a new home.

“Things are coming together and working out well for us as far as getting property and getting things donated to us,” Melancon said. “We’re refurbishing a house now and getting ready to start on number 52.”

Learn more about Betty and Garvin Jabusch.

Read about Webster Parish hitting the 50-home milestone.