By Morgan Bryce
Editor
In only a week’s time, three homes are being built in areas of the Beauregard community hardest hit by the March 3 tornadoes thanks to the efforts of volunteers and aid from two local “community-first” organizations.
The project is a collaborative effort of the Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project and East Alabama Medical Center’s Cornerstone Foundation, marking the second occasion the two organizations have come together to provide shelter for those in need.
“Our focus area is here in Lannett, Valley and West Point, and where we worked with the foundation previously. But, after seeing and hearing of the damage in the Beauregard community, we knew we had to go down there and do something to help,” said CFCP Executive Director Kim Roberts.
Last Saturday, the organizations brought together local volunteers and athletes from Auburn University and the University of Alabama to construct the walls of the homes on Saturday at Providence Baptist Church. The walls were later moved to the sites on Lee roads 36 and 166 where the homes are being built.
Cornerstone Foundation Manager Lisa Ruffin said each homes her organization is sponsoring will be built for individuals with ties to the hospital, including the brother of EAMC nurse Maggie Robinson, who lost her life during the March 3 storms.
“The foundation was started in 1991 to assist an employee whose home was lost in a fire. And since then, it’s grown to be an organization that goes out into the community to help others,” Ruffin said. “It’s part of our DNA here at EAMC to help each other out in a time of trouble or crises.”
The homes are expected to be completed by this Saturday. Roberts added that they plan to return this fall and construct eight more homes.
For more information on the organizations, visit www.eacmfoundation.org and www.fullercenter.org. Turn to A10 for more photos from Saturday’s event.