Military, federal workers can support Fuller Center through Combined Federal Campaign

Continuing a 55-year tradition of supporting nonprofits across America, the annual Combined Federal Campaign is now under way. The CFC encourages military personnel and federal employees to support charities through automatic payroll deductions.

Once again, The Fuller Center for Housing is participating in the CFC. Those wishing to support The Fuller Center’s work — which often includes helping veterans have simple, decent places to live through new home construction and existing home repairs — can look for the nonprofit’s member No. 32548 in the CFC’s list of approved charities.

The Fuller Center is a Christian affordable housing ministry that practices enlightened charity, working in partnership with its homeowners rather than treating them as charity cases. Fuller Center homeowner partners work alongside volunteers to build and repair their homes, contributing sweat equity and then repaying the costs of materials over time, on terms they can afford to pay with no interest charged and no profit made. They are givers themselves instead of charity recipients as their repayments go into a fund to be recycled in the local community by helping others get a similar hand-up. While some charities claim to offer a hand-up instead of a handout, it is the very essence of how The Fuller Center operates.

“Veterans have pride. They don’t want anybody looking down on them with pity. All they want is a fair opportunity — and I can speak to that as a 21-year Marine myself.” — Lee Jeter, Executive Director of the Northwest Louisiana Fuller Center for Housing

For Lee Jeter, a Marine Corps veteran who now runs the Northwest Louisiana Fuller Center for Housing (one of the more than 70 Fuller Center covenant partners in the U.S.), that hand-up principle is important to him and the many veterans with whom he has worked to build homes in Shreveport and Bossier City.

“That’s what every veteran wants — every veteran wants to have some skin in the game, so to speak,” Jeter said. “They’re not used to people just giving them anything. They want to earn their keep. Veterans have pride. They don’t want anybody looking down on them with pity. All they want is a fair opportunity — and I can speak to that as a 21-year Marine myself. All they want is an opportunity to prove themselves. That’s all they need — and that’s what we’re providing — that opportunity to become whole again.”

The Fuller Center encourages the CFC’s generous donors to take a close look at any charity before choosing to support it. The Fuller Center meets all 20 standards as a member of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance and has received the highest-level Platinum rating for transparency from GuideStar. In fiscal year 2016, 86 percent of all expenditures went to the ministry’s work in the field.

“We are proud to partner with our families and with the thousands of good-hearted federal employees and military personnel who serve our great country,” Fuller Center President David Snell said. “We are honored to provide an avenue through which caring people can provide a helping hand to their fellow Americans in need — a helping hand that uplifts and empowers families and individuals.”

President Snell adds that before giving to any charity, donors should do their research and encourages everyone to learn more about The Fuller Center’s mission, principles, history and financials by viewing and/or downloading the ministry’s latest 8-page case statement at this link.