HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The Quesenberrys — “This is our forever home”

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The Quesenberrys — “This is our forever home”

HILLSVILLE, Virginia — The Fuller Center of Greater Carroll County’s Millard Fuller Legacy
Build project back in May was one of the first Fuller Center projects to draw volunteers from across the nation since the pandemic began. With experienced construction leaders, the volunteers were able to hit the ground running as if nothing had interrupted such projects over the previous 14 months. And it left Heather and Charles Quesenberry in awe.

“Wow — that’s how I felt that whole week, just wow,” Heather said Wednesday during a break from styling hair at a local assisted-living facility. “It was crazy to see the house go from three exterior walls to being framed with trusses on the roof all in day one.”

Fuller Center homeowner partners contribute sweat equity in the building of their homes, and the Quesenberrys were no exception — although they did skew the average age much lower on the build site.

“I was about 6 months pregnant at the time,” recalled Heather, whose family now includes a healthy baby, 6-month-old Christian. “I wasn’t able to get in there and hammer the way I wanted to, but being able to be there and help in any way possible was the greatest part of it all.”

The Quesenberrys’ 2-year-old son Douglas and 7-year-old son Gage also contributed in any way they could — and they did so with eagerness and excitement.

“The boys were a part of the build, too,” she said. “They were told from day one — ‘This is our home. This is our forever home.'”

While there’s nothing quite like celebrating Christmas for the first time in a new Fuller Center home, they moved into the home in time to celebrate another major holiday there in November.

“We also were able to have our first Thanksgiving dinner in our home,” Quesenberry recalled. “We were able to fix the turkey and eat at home. And the children have slept so wonderfully there that it’s been like they’ve been there all along.”

Christmas, though,is the big one. As the song goes, there’s no place like home for the holidays — something that her family will make possible for others as they make their zero-percent-interest mortgage payments into a fund to build more homes like theirs.

“It feels amazing,” she said. “It is more than any Christmas gift that we could have ever, ever fathomed. We are very grateful, and we can’t wait to pay it forward and help with the next Fuller Center house.”