Staff Writer
The Americus Times-Recorder
AMERICUS —
Every Tuesday and Thursday this summer, 28 young men from the Dwight Harris Boys Club gave their time and energy assisting with the Elizabeth Street Project through the Fuller Center. Their involvement wasn’t accidental. It came from a vision to encourage community service as a part of youth development, demonstrating how we are all responsible to care for our environment and the people in it. The vision encourages these young men to develop character, integrity and honesty by being sacrificial servants to those in need.
Dwight Harris promised Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity and The Fuller Center for Housing, that he would engage the Boys Club by including a service project with the Americus-Sumter Fuller Center as part of their programming.
“I met Dwight Harris when he came into the office to see if we had any projects his boys could work on. When he told me about the promise he had made to Millard I knew right away Coach Harris was passing along the value of integrity to the boys,” reflected Kirk Lyman-Barner who chairs the local Fuller Center covenant partnership.
Dwight Harris shared his philosophy and what he wanted the boys to experience saying, “The greatest gift is to give when you don’t expect something back in return.”
The Elizabeth Street project was a perfect opportunity for the boys to help out. They worked on landscaping with permaculture design principles (using what was already on the property) and learned about energy efficient building strategies. Through their interaction with Brother Fredo, a member of Good News Ministries and local Faith In Action organizer, they learned the importance of culture, history and scripture in transforming our community for sustainable change.
Brother Fredo says, “We can’t tell people we want change with being a living example of the change we want to see.”
Several of the young men are growing up in Habitat for Humanity houses. Though their families had completed their required sweat equity as a requirement for Habitat’s home ownership, these young boys represent the next generation of community leaders to bring individuals, churches and organizations together to fulfill the vision of Millard Fuller to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness in Americus-Sumter County.
The Dwight Harris Boys Club is a Bible-based prevention program for young men ages 8 to 18 based in Americus. Proverbs 22:6 says “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The Boys Club offers an array of activities including academic tutoring, financial responsibilities, cooking classes, swimming, computer literacy and many other skills.
Dwight Harris, founder and CEO says he is training these young men to be “sheep” that do what is necessary to be obedient to the Word of God and their elders. He believes they are leaders who will make our community a better place for everyone. For more information, Dwight Harris can be reached at 942-7906.
The Americus-Sumter Fuller Center for Housing is a non-profit Christian organization, serving Sumter County that promotes collaborative and innovative partnerships with individuals, organizations, corporations and groups of all faiths in an unrelenting quest to provide adequate shelter for all people in need. To learn more about The Americus-Sumter Fuller Center for Housing, visit www.fullercenter.org/americus .
