Late last year, I was rushing through the office to get to a meeting.
The team at FCS will tell you that it is normal to see me taking the office stairs two at a time to keep up with my calendar! As I rushed past the front desk, I noticed Ms. Hightower, one of our homeowners, and stopped to say a quick hello, ready to rush off to my next task.
Instead, Ms. Hightower said something that stopped me in my tracks: she recently made her final mortgage payment and was meeting with Shell to receive her final payoff paperwork.
This news reordered my day as I was overcome by a sense of gratitude and celebration.
Paying off a mortgage is no small event for anyone – I even told her how jealous I was that she had her home paid off! What an honor to stand in the moment with the homeowner to celebrate this reality.
In her case, it was an achievement more than 20 years in the making. For Ms. Hightower, it involved the daily, weekly, and monthly grind of going to work, raising her family, and paying her bills faithfully month by month for two decades. Her mortgage was the fruit of multiple generous donors, who contributed the capital FCS needed to build her home and provide her mortgage 22 to 23 years ago.
It was a momentous moment, built over decades of small, quiet, and faithful choices. Now, here I was, watching her take it all in stride and shy away from being celebrated. We were all so proud of her.
The multifaceted mission of FCS requires this type of long, deep work that brings together neighbors, partners, donors, and people like you all working together.
We often describe this approach as reweaving the fabric of the community–a shortcut way of describing our mission statement of developing flourishing communities. Victories like this remind us that we are on the right track.
I hope 2024 is filled with these types of events for you. Weighty moments, sometimes years in the making, that pull you out of your busy day to find strength and encouragement for this long, generational work. It truly makes a lasting difference.
Grateful for your partnership along the way,
Jim Wehner, President
