The Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project dedicated Home No. 40 Friday afternoon. The local organization has come a long way since House No. 1 was built in March 2007. Lanett native Millard Fuller was present for the construction of that first home.

For anyone who talked to him and his wife Linda, it was obvious it meant a lot for him to be back home in the Chattahoochee Valley improving living conditions with the construction of new homes for deserving people, rehabbing existing houses for new residents and having Blocks of Blessings events to improve entire neighborhoods.

We lost a great man when Millard Fuller passed in 2009, but we know he’d been very pleased that the covenant partner he helped start the CFCP here in 2007 – continues to build new homes, change lives and improve neighborhoods.

And the work goes on. CFCP Homes No. 41 and 42 will be built this September in West Point.

At each home dedication, there are lots of smiles and some tired people in need of rest but with happy hearts knowing they’ve given of their time to help make someone’s life better.

There’s no exact science in what’s taking place. It’s an unending learning process of trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t, trying to understand the best use of limited resources. The one constant here is the community’s commitment to support Millard Fuller’s dream of making a difference in the world, and making a difference in the place he grew up in. Good people can band together and do good things for others.

They can be proactive in helping people realize the dream of home ownership. It’s not just a pipe dream but a tangible, realizable goal. Instead of having no hope of better living conditions, there can be a reality for deserving people to have decent housing they can afford. They will still play by the rules and make payments like everyone else, but the playing field has been leveled. They’ve able to make payments they can afford.

We salute the CFCP for being a means of lifting people up, to help make people’s dreams come true. The community needs to remain committed to seeing that this honorable work continues.