Trying to keep up with Henry County's Shane Persaud … whew

By Chris Johnson
Director of communications

Shane Persaud sure can be an aggravating guy for a communications director. I told him as much yesterday. Right to his face. Well, over the phone, but I’m sure his face was somewhere close to his phone.

See, Shane is so efficient and gets so many things done through the Henry County Fuller Center for Housing in McDonough, Ga., that, well, it’s kind of hard to keep up with the guy. And he has the nerve to often team up with Mark Galey of the Greater Atlanta Fuller Center and expand their efforts exponentially, helping folks left and right like some kind of affordable housing Batman and Robin. See what I mean? Aggravating!

I’ve been trying to check in with covenant partners this week and just kind of touch base to see what’s going on now and what’s on the horizon. I should have known better than to call and ask Shane if he had anything going on, especially after he’d already been on the phone with Kirk Lyman-Barner discussing possibilities for a project using solar panels. Of course, he had plenty going on.

Henry County has two projects Saturday – a roof repair and an effort to make a home more accessible for a wheelchair-bound 13-year-old who is longing to be more independent. The biggest news was that Shane had just linked up with the True Value regional distribution center in nearby Jonesboro, Ga., that was looking to do some volunteer work on its Day of Caring. True Value has about 45 volunteers coming to Saturday’s projects. Read all about it here!

Among the others I’ve spoken with so far this week are:

• Charlie Park in Webster Parish. Charlie is the point man for this year’s Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Minden, La., this October. He said they’ve already got slabs poured for the new houses we’re building there, six of eight walls already delivered, a construction supervisor arriving Thursday and that we are actively seeking more individual and corporate donations to make the 2011 Build a rousing success. Charlie is a man of deep faith and is confident God will lead people to come through for us again this year. Keep checking our website for more news about the the Legacy Build. Click here to donate!

• Don Erler in Louisville, Ky. Many of you recall the excitement of the Derby City Build earlier this year. This coming Monday at noon, they’ll be handing the keys to a new homeowner, Juanita Ingram. Look for more on that event soon.

• Judy Blalack of Silver Valley, Idaho. They are finishing a Greater Blessing project with their friends from a Lutheran camp upriver from them. They’re also working on getting a ReUse store up and running and getting financial support from Thrivent. Plus, she was praising the work of the Bicycle Adventure team during its stop there for a work project and the RV Builders, who have a close connection with Silver Valley and are just an interesting bunch of folks we will take a closer look at in the future.

I’ll be checking in with more CPs. BUT, don’t wait for me. If you’ve got something going on, please let us know. Email cjohnson@fullercenter.org when you’ve got news, notes or just want to talk about something. We’re here for you!