AMERICUS — Fuller Center for Housing won’t  forget hurricane victims

The horrific images of destruction wreaked by Hurricane Sandy are fresh in our minds. And our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by this monster storm. Our New Jersey covenant partner, based in Tabernacle, N.J., is assessing the situation and stands ready to help in any way possible. When the time is right and first-responders have performed their heroic duties, we can assist with the long-term rebuilding efforts ... with your support.

The Fuller Center is not a disaster response agency, but we can play an important role in rebuilding once the emergency teams have left and the public attention has turned to other news stories. Long after the emergency is over, the housing problems left behind after a disaster persist for too many families. That's where we come in.

The people left behind to cope with these events need to know that they will not be forgotten after a few weeks, several months or many years. Disaster recovery tends to outlast our memories of the events that require it. But we'll still be there.

For example, we remain busy in places like earthquake-ravaged Haiti, hurricane-damaged Louisiana and tornado-leveled Joplin, Mo. In fact, one of our busiest international covenant partners is in Armenia, where thousands of families still live in shipping containers nearly 24 years after the devastating 1988 quake there. But since we began work there in 2008, Fuller Center-Armenia has helped more than 200 families move into safe, decent, affordable homes. Nearly a quarter-century after the disaster, our commitment hasn't wavered.

We know that you, too, are concerned about those whose lives were affected by Hurricane Sandy. And we know that you are also worried about those who haven't been able get help repairing their homes in Louisiana or are still living in tents in Haiti. We are, too.

Please visit our website at FullerCenter.org to see how busy we are helping families, including disaster victims, in desperate need of a simple, decent home.

I hope that you will consider partnering with us to help disaster victims not just in the Northeast but also in Louisiana, Haiti, Armenia, Joplin and elsewhere. As we do with others in need of a simple and decent home, we will be available to offer the hand up they need. And we will be there for the long haul. These victims will not be forgotten.

David Snell

President & co-founder

The Fuller Center for Housing

Americus