Began by Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller and his wife Linda in 2007, the Fuller Center for Housing is a program dedicated to the extreme renovation of homes for families in need. Mark Galey, president of the Atlanta Fuller Center said they began their covenant partnership in September 2007.

After a chance meeting of Galey and Shane Persaud, founder of Building Design Partnership, LLC in Henry County, Project McDonough was hatched.

“Last March I got a call from Mark Galey, who also happens to live here in McDonough, and he invited me to become part of a project he was planning here,” he said.

Persaud’s business is an architect design firm and he had been searching for a way to give back to his community.

“I thought it would be just volunteering for a couple of hours on a Saturday just to do my part, but it became more of a leadership role because I fell into it with Mark,” said Persaud. “Together we worked on coordinating and inviting volunteers and meeting with churches, doing cost estimates and it ended up being the two of us spearheading the thing.”

Since its inception, Persaud said they have done 17 projects in the McDonough and Henry County area, which is the focus of the project. Many of them involved work ranging from roof replacements, repainted exteriors and some major renovations. Anyone can be nominated for a renovation, which mostly focuses on low-income and elderly recipients. But Persaud said some younger families who might have gone through a tragedy are also candidates.

Such was the case with the DeLee family. After Edward DeLee was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him confined to a wheelchair, the family lost their home. Councilman Monta Brown donated land belonging to his family to the Fuller Center, which is currently renovating the home on the property for the DeLee family. An official clean-up of the yard on Saturday will mark the official kick-off of this project.

Funding for the organization is 100 percent donation-based and the families don’t have to pay anything back, although they are asked to give what they can to the Greater Blessings Box, which helps fund future projects. Some families even take to helping fundraise for their projects.

“It’s a very satisfying and good feeling knowing you’re helping other people in need,” said Persaud. “It helps you to be a better person.”