The beauty about having unlimited space to write ✍is one can dedicate as much time and energy to a story as it deserves. Here is the next installment on The Fuller Center for Housing !

Pictured here is Katelyn Nester standing 🧍‍♂️in front of her Home on Coon Ridge, north of Hillsville, Virginia.

For simplicity purposes we will call this House 🏠 #4, the Home that Katelyn helped build.

Dr Oliver McBride carries a fire inside of him that should be the envy of many. Dr McBride is currently in his mid 70’s and still wakes up every day and tries to make our Community a better place to live.

We spent two hours together and this time included meeting both Katelyn Nester and expecting Mom, Amber Newman.

Before we get into the amazing stories about these two young ladies and their families we should frame the story just a bit.

Here are a few key things that are involved in pairing a Family with a Fuller Center House.

There is a very detailed Application process for anyone interested in being selected to participate in the program. This makes perfect sense being that both parties are entering into a 30 year partnership together.

The goal, from the Fuller Center side of this heart warming program is to find people that are looking to purchase a home that can afford to make the mortgage payments but would not qualify for a conventional loan. The combined income has to fall into a certain range as well.

Once the Application process has been completed, the new Home Owners receive a 30 year loan at 0% interest. The payments go to the Fuller Center and are then rolled over into the next building project. Hence, the need to select the most deserving applicant because it truly is a 30 year partnership.

Asking Dr McBride what is the ultimate goal for him in this process here, his response was priceless.

” For us to build another house and then after that, another House,” McBride said. ” After that, build another house and another house.

The side deck of the Nester house.

Another very unique aspect to the program is each Owner is required to provide 150 hours of actual work on their home (notice Amber priming the walls) and produce a second person who will provide 200 hours of effort.

The number of hands that touch one of the homes from start to finish is astounding. Dr McBride described the efforts involving the walls that were built by a Church outside of the Richmond area.

The Church ⛪ gathered in their parking lot on a Saturday morning and built the walls for the latest house. The group was finishing up 🔨 hammering the final nails when the vehicle arrived to pick them up.

We are prepared to write ✍ about the efforts of The Fuller Center for Housing until we run out of people to visit with.

Our next step will be to take you inside the lives and stories of Amber and Katelyn !