22-home Villa Fuller in El Salvador continues rapid expansion

The Fuller Center for Housing El Salvador continues to be an incredibly productive international covenant partner.

Take a quick look at the many things FCH El Salvador has accomplished recently including getting electricity, acquiring a new long-term volunteer, launching a new Web site and kicking off the fall Global Builders season.

Read the background of FCH El Salvador’s current project: Villa Millard and Linda Fuller.

Villa Fuller

When completed, the initiative in Santa Clara, El Salvador, named for the couple who founded the Fuller Center, will have 60 homes. It is now nearly half-finished.

Most of the 22 completed homes already have families living in them. And 10 more homes are currently in process. More families are applying every day to be a part of the Villa.

With the help of Global Builders as well as local volunteers and homeowners, Villa Fuller now has electricity, a well, and clean water is being fed to every home.

And the addition of electricity means the sewing program that will teach local women to operate an industrial sewing machine can move forward.

“The program is designed to help make the community more sustainable and get people working,” Micah Whitt, a new long-term volunteer for FCH El Salvador, said. Micah is working with country director Michael Bonderer on the housing projects as well as recruiting and coordinating college student volunteer teams. (To learn more about Micah visit the FCH El Salvador page.)

Global Builders

Four trips are scheduled this season, the first of which just returned. The directors of the Global Builders program, Jim and Margaret Favre, led the trip.

“We put in drainage culverts, added height to some housing walls, and more,” they said. They’re excited by the rate at which the community is growing. The team also enjoyed celebrating with Villa Fuller for a birthday, a baptism, and the first wedding the Villa has had.

Get involved with the Global Builders by signing up for a trip or donating here.

Upcoming Events

—Global Builder Trips

• Nov. 22-28—Tamara Danel will lead this team during the anniversary of the Millard and Linda Fuller Blitz Build 2008. The team will share Thanksgiving dinner with Villa Fuller.
• Dec. 11-19—Patti Davenport will lead a team from the University of Cincinnati.
• Dec. 14-18—Katrina Laygo’s team from UCLA will join the group from Cincinnati.

—Students at a local English-speaking high school will be volunteering four Saturdays in a row beginning Oct. 17. They’ll build a home in addition to helping build the community.

—Make a Difference Day
On Oct. 24 a team of Crowley Maritime Corporation employees will volunteer as part of this U.S. holiday devoted to encouraging service (read more here). FCH El Salvador expects over 100 people on site volunteering. The team will pour an entire house in one day. “The effort is also significant because it will provide a unique opportunity for residents of El Salvador to help other Salvadorans,” Micah observed.

—And check out the new FCH El Salvador Web site.

As long as projects can be funded, Villa Fuller can keep building—not just houses, but a community. To donate to the cause click here. If you’d like to take part in a build e-mail globalbuilders@fullercenter.org.