WEEK IN REVIEW: These repairs are not easy

By Chris Johnson,
Director of Communications

As a teenager, I once spent a summer earning money by making minor home repairs for a few folks in my hometown. It was all my Dad’s idea. As a one-time home builder who also has a knack for making repairs, he must’ve thought it was genetic and that I most certainly would inherit such ability.

I didn’t. And still haven’t, I’m afraid.

Depending upon the scope of the repair job, I think home repairs are often more difficult than new home builds. That’s why I’m so amazed by what the last two Millard Fuller Legacy Builds in McDonough, Ga., and Atlantic City, N.J., were able to pull off with builds that were ALL repairs.

Repairing old, neglected or storm-damaged homes is hardly a neat and tidy effort. It’s stressful, and variables always present themselves. It’s a test of patience, cooperation and the Christian spirit. Nerves fray and teeth grind. Those repairs usually go in three stages:

(1) Wow, there is a lot of work to be done here! Let’s get to it!

(2) This is hopeless. What do you mean we’re out of duct tape? And who took my hammer? No, the one with the red handle; I can’t work with this!

Then … (3) how in the world did we pull this off? I dunno, but I’m glad we did. And, based upon those tears of joy, so is the homeowner.

I’m proud to see that the struggles of hosting repair-based Legacy Builds have paid off. Not only is the Henry County Fuller Center still at work helping families repair their homes (see photos of this week’s work here), but Atlantic City now has a brand new Fuller Center covenant partner thanks to the work of New Jersey Pines and the volunteers who rebuilt homes and spirits this past spring.

In the meantime, there are build teams and volunteers fanning out across the Fuller Center spectrum — from Hammond, La., (click here for more) to Americus, Ga. (click here) — working hard in the hot sun or inside sweltering interiors to give homes new life.

Thank you to all those who are out there in the field doing the hard work of repairing homes. I know exactly how hard this is.