Fisher House’s patio blooms

Author: Laura Arenschield Staff writer Until this past weekend, the patio outside a house where families of wounded soldiers stay on Fort Bragg looked bare — a stone floor, a few cedar trees, a grill. Soldiers in wheelchairs often could not use the patio after a rainstorm because they could not navigate the muddy yard between the house and the grill. About a month ago, though, a group of 11 people taking a leadership class at WorldLegacy near Raleigh adopted the house as its final project. One person in the class was planning to run the Marine Corps Marathon and had found out about the Fisher House. The house provides families a free place to stay on Fort Bragg while family members are receiving long-term care at Womack Army Medical Center. A Fisher House is like a Ronald McDonald House, but for the military. This past weekend, a WorldLegacy leadership group transformed the house’s patio into a garden, complete with a trellis, new patio furniture and a wooden bridge that arches over the grass to link the house with the patio. On Monday, Fisher House employees and volunteers celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the group under the new trellis. Group members are students at WorldLegacy, a company in Morrisville that teaches leadership skills to adults. The project required them to persuade other people to donate materials, money and their time to build something that would stay in the community. They had five weeks to do the persuading, but only two days to construct whatever they decided to build. About 50 people came to help build the garden this past weekend, planting flowers and hammering wood into place. The group persuaded companies to donate telephones, comforters and a couch for the inside of the house. Jorge Goti, an immigrant from Cuba and the student who is running the Marine Corps Marathon, said he wanted the group’s project to support the military. “I am a passionate lover of this country, and I am a passionate lover of the freedom we have,” he said, addressing the soldiers at the ceremony. “It is a shame how many of us don’t thank you guys when we walk in the airport.” Col. Terry Walters, Womack’s commanding officer, helped cut the ribbon stretched across the bridge. After Goti spoke, she gave him her coin, a military symbol for thanks. “It is very, very important to have someone say thanks,” she said. “And that’s what this is to us.” Lori Todd, director of WorldLegacy, said the center has offered the leadership course for 11 years. Other teams have built playgrounds for homeless children and improved areas where prisoners visit with their families. This project is the first involving the military and the first in Fayetteville, she said.  WorldLegacy students were not allowed to use any of their own money, and 75 percent of the work had to be done by other people. This project cost between $40,000 and $50,000, she said. People, for the most part, want to help each other, Todd said, and many companies are willing to donate money or materials. They just need a project to join. “You get people involved from the community,” she said. “If we do that everywhere, we would have peace.” Reprinted with permission from The Fayetteville Observer, Fayetteville, NC

WorldLegacy at Fort Bragg Fisher House
WorldLegacy NC95 Leaders created the most amazing flower garden, patio and sitting area among nature’s wonders at Fort Bragg Fisher House. This was an extreme makeover of the outside of Fisher House at Ft. Bragg. We created a 16 x 16 arbor and a 15 ft. bridge- walkway that leads to this garden. When you look out the back door everyone will walk this landscaped walkway to the garden where patients and family members will have a place for healing. These people will experience all of nature and the love that other people care about them. The Ft. Bragg Fisher House is like a “Ronald McDonald House” for military people being treated at the hospital. During our WorldLegacy project, a father came up to us to share his story of his son’s surgery and cancer and how this project makes a difference for so many people. The thoughts of all the people that will experience this beautiful place send cold chills down my body. Love to everyone, touch someone today-make a difference today! Love, Debbie NC95 Fisher House, Fort Bragg, NC read more WorldLegacy Fisher House