Kentucky governor announces $4 million for new Fuller Center covenant partner’s tornado recovery efforts

Photo: Mayfield-Graves Fuller Center for Housing Board Chairman Dave Wright speaks as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (right) and others look on Tuesday in Mayfield, Kentucky.

Kentucky governor announces $4 million for new Fuller Center covenant partner’s tornado recovery efforts

MAYFIELD, Kentucky — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear paid a visit to the area hardest hit by a December tornado on Tuesday to announce the distribution of $16 million to various agencies through the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund. The funds will help build 300 homes in a 13-county region with the new Mayfield-Graves Fuller Center for Housing getting $4 million to build up to 100 homes.

After thanking the many disaster relief volunteers and groups who helped get the area ready for the long-term recovery process, Mayfield-Graves Fuller Center Board Chairman Dave Wright said that it’s time to get to work on the next phase.

“Now it’s time for us to move forward and start building, and that’s what we’re going to be here for,” Wright told the crowd assembled for the announcement while flanked by the governor and other leaders. “It’s now time, I think, for us to get busy, get our britches rolled up and start building homes for people in this community that were affected.”

While The Fuller Center for Housing does not build with government funds, the $4 million going to The Fuller Center for this effort comes from private donations to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.

“The Mayfield-Graves Fuller Center is one of our newest covenant partners, but they have many connections and a lot of previous experience helping people have simple, decent places to live,” Fuller Center for Housing President David Snell said. “This donation will jump-start their long-term recovery efforts, and I have no doubt they will be outstanding leaders in this process — along with our Disaster ReBuilders who are busy hosting volunteer teams at their base in Madisonville, working primarily in Dawson Springs and Bremen. We appreciate the support of local and state leaders, who have embraced not just our ministry but all of those working hard to help those in desperate need after the December tornado.”