Over the Edge is raising funds for affordable housing

It’s one of the edgiest fundraisers the city has experienced. Community members will attempt to raise funds to help two local nonprofit organizations fight blight while silmultaneously helping to provide affordable housing in the community. As proof of their efforts, they will have an opportunity to rappel 15 stories down the side of the historic Fairmont Apartments building.

Called “Over the Edge,” this unique fundraiser, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 4, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., will benefit The Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana and Shreveport Common, An UNcommon Cultural District. Participants who raise a minimum of $1,500 will have the opportunity to rappel to the ground from the Fairmont building’s roof, not unlike a mountain climber.

“Over the Edge is a fundraiser with a capital ‘F-U-N,’” said Lee A. Jeter Sr., executive director of the Fuller Center. “It’s unique. We’ve done it in the past.” That was back in 2017, when Over the Edge participants rappelled over the side of the 22-story Beck Building.

“This is going to be a shorter building, but it’s still going to be an exciting event because it gives individuals that want to support our mission and the mission of Shreveport Common … an opportunity to raise money to help two nonprofits that are really focused on improving our community, removing blight and building homes and really creating an opportunity for every citizen in our community.

“That’s why Shreveport Common is the right partner for us at this time because as we continue to build homes and communities and all of those abandoned and vacated properties that we have in our community, we’re really reducing blight in those communities, which goes with the mayor’s initiative to reduce blight,” Jeter said.

Wendy Benscoter, executive director of Shreveport Common, said, “We are working on the redevelopment of blighted buildings, trying to get them back into commerce and to remove obstacles to developers being able to put their businesses in these buildings. That’s why we came together.

“What we’re dedicated to is affordable and market-rate and mixed-rate (housing). We want people to live together in this area.”

Even Mayor Tom Arceneaux is participating by going Over the Edge. This will not be a publicity stunt. He will actually be among those participants rappelling over the edge of the Fairmont Apartments building.

“Mayor Arceneaux knows about Shreveport Common,” Benscoter said, adding that, even before he was elected mayor, he helped make the Shreveport Common district a reality. “He’s raising the money to do it. Nobody’s going Over the Edge for free. We’re excited that he recognizes that something can be done, and we’re excited that he’s willing to go Over the Edge for this project.”

How did this come about?” Benscoter said that the company responsible for Over the Edge called her and asked if she would like to participate in their project. She told them, “That’s interesting because we do everything uncommon. We want you to say this is an uncommon event and the people that are doing it are uncommon.” She also wanted the chance to show off the Fairmont building, which had recently undergone a multi-million-dollar refurbishment in Shreveport Common, which consists of nine blocks encompassing the western edge of downtown Shreveport.

But going over the edge of a 15-story building initially sounds like quite a challenge for a fundraiser, not like running a 5K race. “You’d be surprised that we have people who want to do that instead of running a 5K, and they believe in both of the nonprofits enough to raise that money,” Benscoter said.

What about safety? After all, the average citizen is probably not very skilled at climbing down monumental structures. Benscoter said, “The group that’s doing this has been in business for 17 years in the United States and Canada, and they are professionals at helping people go Over the Edge. That’s what they do, day in and day out.” Their personnel are made up of former military people, former police officers and first responders who know what they are doing, using safety equipment.

“The event is probably safer than driving down Interstate 20 in Shreveport-Bossier,” Jeter said.

But the day will consist of more than merely scaling a building downward. The Shreveport Regional Arts Council will sponsor a block party that day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring food trucks, tents and VIP areas. DJ Yoshi will be present with an announcer calling out the names of the people about to rappel down the face of the local skyscraper.

The funds raised will be shared equally between the two organizations, with 50 percent going to the Fuller Center to be used to build affordable homes for low- to moderate-income families, and 50 percent to Shreveport Common, which is dedicated to removing obstacles and uniting partners to advance the revitalization of the Shreveport Common district.