Since 2019, the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing has made it their mission to repair homes for seniors, veterans and the disabled and to provide safety, security and dignity for those they serve. Fuller Center volunteers have stayed true to their word.
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| Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing volunteers work on a porch roof during a project for an elderly Windham resident last year. The organization is looking for volunteers for the coming year and lining up more projects in the community to work on. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
The Unity Center for Spiritual Growth Church in Windham, where Patricia Bessey is the minister, became one of the founding members of the Sebago Lake Region Fuller Center, and Bessey has been on the organization’s board since then. She is now the Vice Chair and the Vice Chair of the volunteer team. Bessey comes into play when a project is getting started and volunteers are needed to help.
“I reach out to people and see who is available at the time to volunteer,” says Bessey. “The Fuller Center is always in need of volunteers, not just to work on projects, but we are also looking for people who want to make connections with people so that even though we have come in and done work with them, we are not done with them. We try to keep connection.”
Bessey says that she is looking for people who want to be on a team to create events so that they can continue to involve their volunteers and get them connected to other people.
“These events can look like the Bike Adventure that is coming up this summer, when a group of cyclists will be coming to Maine from the home office down in Georgia. My role there will be to get volunteers to do many different things, such as prepare meals, welcome the cyclists, and help with anything else that would be needed for such an event,” says Bessey.
She is also looking for volunteers who are interested in arts and crafts to make cards at different times of the year to send to volunteers.
“Many of the folks who we do work for or work with live alone and do not have a lot of contact, so we try to stay in contact with them, and this is a great way to do that,” she said. “We are also looking for volunteers marketing and other admin type jobs, so there are many places where people can plug in.”
Winter is usually relatively quiet for Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing because most of the work that they do entails being outside, but come spring, things really begin to take off and projects begin to get scheduled.
Since 2019, 197 volunteers have donated 4,436 hours to help 78 seniors and projects continue throughout this year, too.
“I have also started something called the Maine Sunshine Companions, which is a program for volunteers to go in and be a companion to somebody who is either homebound, living alone, or is feeling a great deal of isolation,” says Bessey. “We are partnering with the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing and will be checking in with some of the families that we have to see if this is a program that they would like to be part of so that they can have someone come in on whatever schedule they decide between the volunteer and themselves. This is non-medical, non-housework; this is all about being there as a companion and a friend and helping them find purpose again in their lives through perhaps a craft or something they used to do that they do not do anymore that brought them enjoyment.”
The Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing is always looking for donations. If you would like to donate, please visit sebagofullerhousing.org, where you will find a “donate” button.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center or have any questions, please reach out to Patricia Bessey at [email protected] or visit sebagofullerhousing.org for more details.<
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