By Josh Troy
Clarksdale Advocate
When the Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing needed volunteers to build homes, the fire department answered the call. The Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing is constructing a home on Douglas Street, near the corner of Messenger Street. The Clarksdale Fire Department volunteered its time and services to assist in building the shed at the home. The shed is intended to be used as a storage facility.
“We need to use our resources, and resources come from our community,” said Ben Williams, Construction Supervisor for the Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing. “Part of our community is the Clarksdale Area Fire Department. We figured if we called and asked them to come out and help us, they would, and they did.”
The Clarksdale Fire Department has been assisting the Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing with projects for close to six months.
“We try to help all our citizens in the area,” said Clarksdale Fire Chief Rocky Nabors. “When citizens need our help, we try to make ourselves available to participate in whatever project. It’s just another act of volunteerism that we participate in. No project is too small or too big for us to participate in. If they need our services, we can make it happen.”
Williams said the home being constructed is the first one with a carport in the past 28 years and has two bedrooms for a family.
“We’re trying to gear up for the younger generation and people with a smaller number of kids,” he said.
The Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing office is located in CB&S Bank on Yazoo Avenue. Representatives are available at the office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily to assist anyone wishing to volunteer, make donations, or fill out a housing application.
“We need more volunteers like the Clarksdale Fire Department,” Williams said. “Come over and help us out. If we could get that to happen in this community, this thing will take off and be going just the way it should be.”
More information on the Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing can be found at www.clarksdalefullercenter.org, and representatives may be reached at clarksdalefullercenter@gmail.com.
