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LANETT — In her 13 years as executive director of the Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project (CFCP), Kim Roberts saw much need for housing in the Greater Valley Area, especially in her hometown of Lanett. As director of the CFCP, she addressed the need for better housing by heading up building projects for more than 20 new homes in Lanett and more than 80 in the Chambers-Troup-Harris-Lee County region. She also led the rehab efforts on other homes, providing decent places to live for Lanett residents and directed Blocks of Blessings cleanups to improve the appearance of neighborhoods in the area.

Roberts retired from the CFCP a year ago and is now seeking another way to get involved in making her hometown a better place to live, which is what led to her decision to run for a seat on the city council.

“I spent 15 years working for the Fuller Center to improve our community,” Roberts said in an announcement of her candidacy for the District 5 seat. “I want to continue the kind of work I’ve done to make Lanett a better place to live. I am formally announcing my candidacy for the Lanett City Council.”

The CFCP was organized in 2006 and had its first build blitz in Lanett the following year. Lanett native and Habitat for Humanity and Fuller Center for Housing founder Millard Fuller came here to lead that effort along North 6th Avenue. He died in February 2009 not long after appearing with wife Linda as grand marshals in the Valleywide Christmas Parade in December 2008.

Roberts was a volunteer in those early days of the CFCP and was its executive director by 2011.

“The Fuller Center has built 81 homes in Chambers, Lee, Troup and Harris counties,” Roberts said. “We also remodeled numerous houses for their current owners and performed a number of Block of Blessings projects where teams of volunteers cleaned up neighborhoods. More of this work was done in Lanett than in any other city. There was a need to do this and there still is.”

As CFCP director, Roberts and her staff supported the education of Lanett’s children through back-to-school giveaways, along with giveaways during the Easter and Halloween seasons.

The Fuller Center’s ReUse Store opened on Gilmer Avenue in Lanett in 2014. It’s now being operated by the CFCP’s new director, Roberts’ former assistant Robin Pierre, and continues to do good business.

“I am proud of what we accomplished at the Fuller Center to help the people of Lanett,” Roberts said. “Nonetheless, I learned that there are limits to what a private nonprofit can accomplish. Much of the heavy lifting in our town must be done by the governing body of Lanett. I want Lanett to be a place that attracts new families and new businesses while at the same time supporting our current residents and business owners. I want Lanett to be appealing to people and businesses both in the way it looks and operates.

There are places in Lanett that need to be cleaned up, and we need to make sure city services are up to the standards that meet the needs of our current and future residents and businesses.”

Roberts said she is aware that her vision for Lanett may seem like a fantasy to some people. “I want you to think about what the Fuller Center has accomplished,” she said to those doubters. “The combined population of Lanett, Valley and West Point is only around 20,000 people, and the median household income is well below the national average.”

To measure what the CFCP has accomplished in a relatively short period of time, compare what it has done with what nearby metropolitan areas have done. Columbus, Georgia, for example, has ten times the population and resources than the Greater Valley Area. If an organization like the CFCP were active there, they would have to have built over 800 new homes to proportionally match what the CFCP has done for its local area.

“I do not believe my vision for Lanett is just a fantasy.” Roberts said. “I believe that with faith in God, a willingness to work hard and fight for what is right that my vision for Lanett can be achieved.”

“I am asking District 5 residents to join me in having this vision for a better place to live,” Roberts said. “I am asking them for their vote and support on Aug. 26. Lastly, I want to thank my husband Dennis and our family for their loving support.”