Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LANETT — The week of June 12-16 will be a build week for the Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project (CFCP). Over 100 people will be in town to take part in the construction of a new senior duplex in the Plant City neighborhood. The 1,526-square-foot house will be going up on the same block where two new senior homes were built one year ago this month. The structure will have two 768-square-foot units, each with two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, laundry room and bathroom. The new duplex will have access off East 19th Street.

Three people of retirement age will be living there. A married couple, Jimmy and Patricia Carlisle, will be in one of the units, and Angela McCray will be in the other. Between 40 and 50 people from Fort Payne, Alabama  will be here. They are members of a mission team led by Randy Mitchell.

They will be joined on the work site by up to 58 youth from the First Baptist Church of Minden, Louisiana. This group was here to assist the CFCP two years ago. Some from that group have gone on to college but some of the younger youth who were here in 2021 will be returning. During their week-long stay, the Minden group will be spending nights at Valley Community Center. The Fort Payne group will be staying at Mount Hermon Baptist Church.

Donnie Gillenwaters will be the project manager and Randy Mitchell the house captain.

The first phase of construction is complete. On Friday morning, Dr. Rick Kuhn and volunteers from the Church of the Highlands finished the foundation. It’s different from most Fuller Center homes in that it will have crawl space underneath.

The Fort Payne group and the Minden group will each arrive on Sunday afternoon. Work on the new duplex will get under way at 8 a.m. EDT on Monday. Some youth from the Minden group will be at the Plant City site and some others will be taking part in a Block of Blessings on North 12th Avenue in Lanett’s Jackson Heights neighborhood. A number of CFCP homes have been built there. “They will be doing some painting on three of the homes there,” Robin Pierre, assistant director of the CFCP, told The Valley Times-News. “They will also be planting shrubs, doing some pressure washing and beautifying the yards.”

Some local businesses have donated building materials for the project. West Frazer (formerly Norbord) has given some OSB and some lumber, Knauf has donated the insulation, and The Church of the Highlands has donated some Hardie board. Advantage Roofing and Remodeling has donated some roofing material and GAF the shingles.

West Point Coca-Cola will be providing the drinks and some area churches will be serving meals to the work crews. Lanett First Baptist, West Point First Baptist, West Point Methodist and West Point Presbyterian are combining to do this. Terri’s Mill Village Cafe and Johnny’s Pizza will also be providing meals. Men from the Lanett Fire Department will be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers during the week. Clifton Autry along with Kim Roberts and Robin Pierre of the CFCP will be doing some of the cooking as well.

Snacks will be provided during the week. West Point Methodist will be bringing the workers lunch bags with sandwiches, chips and cookies during the week.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the Minden group again,” Pierre said. “I’m sure some of them have grown a lot over the past two years. They will be staying in the big gym at the Community Center. We also appreciate the Fort Payne group coming to help us. They are experienced in these kinds of projects. They will be bringing their own shower truck.”

Kim and Robin are hoping for good weather next week and that a senior duplex dedication can take place next Friday.