If you are triggered by these cute kids, you need help

As some of you know, I work full-time as a communications professional in the nonprofit world — primarily as vice president of The Fuller Center for Housing (based in Georgia) and part-time with The People Helping People Network (based in Indiana).

Each was formed by people who wanted to put their faith into action in tangible, practical ways. You can learn more about each at fullercenter.org and phpnetwork.org, websites that I manage and have filled with content. It’s work, but it’s joyous work … most of the time.

When I was in the newspaper business, I saw the dark sides of hateful people way too much. It made me rather cynical. Since joining The Fuller Center in 2011, though, I’ve seen so much good from donors, volunteers and hard-working families that my cynicism has eased.

There’s much to like about what The Fuller Center does in partnering with families to build and repair homes in dozens of communities across the nation and in more than 20 countries. Families contribute sweat equity alongside volunteers and then repay the costs of construction, on terms they can afford, over time, with no interest charged and no profit made into a fund to help others in their community get the very same kind of hand-up. It’s a unique and smart concept pioneered by the late Millard Fuller.

What’s not to love, right?

Well, as with the newspaper business, there are still haters — not as many, mind you, and no one has issued threats against me as some did during my columnist days. (I used to keep my hate mail in a folder and read for fun back then. Unfortunately, hardly anyone writes anymore.)

Nine out of 10 comments on any of The Fuller Center’s social media posts are very positive. Folks who see and understand what we do like what we do. However, the dark undertow of hatred tugging on America today rears its ugly head from time to time.

The most common knee-jerk, pre-emptively negative comment is, “I wish somebody would give me a house.” That’s when I usually post a standard response and link explaining how the system works. We don’t generally hear from them again.

The next comes when we share a positive success story from our work in Haiti, Peru, El Salvador, Nepal, Uganda, Madagascar or any of the other foreign countries where we work. They post something to the extent of, “We’ve got problems in America! You should work here!” So, I share a link to all of our locations (including the dozens across the U.S.) and invite them to contact their nearest partner and get involved. Of course, we don’t hear from these kinds of negative folks again, either.

Sometimes, though, people who don’t understand our work and are filled with negativity and hatred feel compelled to bash the good work in a social media comment. I usually just let it go as America grows more hateful by the minute. But sometimes their attacks get to me, especially with a recent post featuring two kids from Peru, Rohit and Luana.

I was there in November as volunteers worked alongside families on 20 new homes in a new community that will ultimately have 44 homes. These super-hard-working families are some of the most generous and most joyful people I’ve ever met. Recently, I used a photo of Luana and Rohit holding pictures they colored of their “dream house” to encourage people to support The Fuller Center in our year-end campaign. December is a huge month for nonprofits. Thankfully, it’s been a successful campaign.

But there were a few haters who went out of their uninformed way to bash the effort, leaping into the abyss of hatred without a parachute of understanding. So, I’d like to point out a few of those clueless stone-throwers and help them understand: