It was back in 2008 when Fuller Center for Housing Armenia was registered and now the 500th milestone home is celebrated. It means that 500 Armenian families were supported through decent housing; families who had been living in metal containers, basements, half-built houses or other temporary shelters, now live in their decent homes… This success became possible only thanks to the dedicated partners, individual donors, volunteers, friends of Fuller Center for Housing Armenia.
The day was of double importance as the 500th milestone home coincided with the 20th house being sponsored by St. John Armenian Church of Greater Detroit Community.
The day was celebrated with the Global Builders volunteer team, led by Jacqueline Melkonian Elchemmas, a veteran team leader, who is already the 8th year leading teams to Armenia from St. John Armenian Church Community of Greater Detroit. Already 102 volunteer team members have joined Jacqueline Melkonian Elchemmas’s team. The volunteers spend their vacations lending a helping hand to eliminate poverty housing and give a homeless family great happiness and joy. This longtime partnership transforms lives and gives families the opportunity for a better and brighter future.
” The St. John Armenian Church Community of Greater Detroit is honored to have hanged the lives of 20 families over the past 10 years. All of the volunteers that have helped build homes do so knowing the impact it has on the future of each family, but equally the impact the building has on the volunteers, changes our lives too. We are so excited to share in FCHA’s 500th home build for the Smbatyan family and we look forward to contributing to the next 500 homes,” shared Jacqueline Melkonian Elchemmas.
The 500th house of the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia belongs to the Smbatyans from Shatin village of Vayots Dzor Region. The family house is sponsored by Howard and Catherine Atesian from St. John Armenian Church of Greater Detroit Community.
‘’My children never felt the happiness of having a home. My son will go to the army next year and it was our dream to say him good bye from our own house… You can’t even imagine how grateful we are. May God Bless the generous people whose support will change our life,’’ said Lilit, the mother of Smbatyan family.
The Smbatyans started building a house 10 years ago, but in 10 years they could build only the walls and the roof. Now the family lives in the house of a relative who has left abroad. They live in that temporary shelter with the fear that their relatives will return and they would have no place to live in.
Hopefully, by the end of the year, the Smbatyans will live in a decent home thanks to the generous donation of Howard and Catherine Atesian and the great volunteer support of the members from St. John Armenian Church of Greater Detroit.