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LANETT — At 7:30 a.m. Friday morning, work began on two new homes for local seniors. The Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project (CFCP) is heading up the construction of a home for a 65-year-old woman and a second one for a 72-year-old man. Theresa Davidson lost her home to a fire, and Oscar Davis is presently living in a home that’s in deplorable condition.

The two new homes are going up on East 3rd Street in Lanett, not far from Plant City Baptist Church. They will be on a large lot that was donated to the Fuller Center. It’s large enough to locate two new homes plus a 300-square-foot tiny house that was built by students from Auburn University’s Building Science program.

Local podiatrist Dr. Richard L. “Rick” Kuhn will be bringing a group of approximately 25 volunteers from the Serve Team from the Church of the Highlands in Auburn to do the work. The goal is to have the two 800-square-foot homes dried in by the end of the day on Saturday. A West Point couple is sponsoring the construction of one of the homes.

Theresa Davidson will be living in one of the two new homes and Oscar Davis in the second one. Davidson works at Chic DeLite in West Point. Until recently, she had been living in a home behind David’s Automotive in Lanett. She had to relocate after losing the house to a fire. She has been living in a local motel since then. Her son, Loon Davidson, is a deputy with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office. He will be volunteering his time on the work project.

The second new home will be going to Oscar Davis. He’s 72 and is living in a house that’s in terrible condition. The roof leaks, the floors are sagging and the house has no running water or electricity. He’s an active member of Goodsell Methodist Church in Lanett and has been praying for a better home so his school-age granddaughter can visit him. Mr. Davis drives local veterans in a City of Lanett bus to the Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee.

“I found out about Mr. Davis from The Way to Serve in Opelika,” said CFCP Executive Director Kim Roberts. “Shane Kyles called to ask if there was anything we could do to help him.”

Roberts then knew there was a need to build two new homes for two local seniors who have been living alone.

A door opened when Dr. Kuhn called to see if the Serve Team could build a home in the Valley area.

“Can you build two?” she asked him.

She went on to explain that they would be for two seniors. The homes would not have to be spacious — two bedrooms and a bath would meet their needs nicely.

Dr. Kuhn agreed, and a plan went into motion.

The Serve Team will be assisted by volunteers from Knauf and the Marsh McLennan Agency (formerly J. Smith Lanier Insurance). Knauf has donated the insulation and West Frazer’s Barton Mill the OSB.

At noon on Saturday, Mount Hermon Baptist Church fed the big group of volunteers. As the work continues through the next week, the CFCP will supply them with plenty of water and snacks. West Point Coca-Cola will be supplying drinks as well.

“The volunteers will be painting the Hardie Board that will be going on the exterior of the two new homes,” Roberts said.

The senior build will be a major portion of this year’s CFCP home building effort. There will be a Fuller Center Legacy Build this October to build two more new homes in the local area. These four new homes will get the total number up to 75 Fuller Center homes that have been built since 2007.

“I am so excited about both the senior build and the Legacy Build,” Roberts said. “Auburn University athletes have already built us one section of walls for the two Legacy Build homes. We will have another section built sometime this summer. We can continue to build homes as long as the ReUse Center is successful. It’s mind-blowing to think how successful it has been so far, and it’s due to the way the local community is continuing to support us. As long as they keep buying from us, we can keep building new Fuller Center homes.”