A Tribute to a Builder of Dreams
Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity and The Fuller Center for Housing, died yesterday.
What can you say about a man who gave away his wealth to fundraise for a small church-funded African American school in Mississippi, spent time in Africa on behalf of the Church of Christ and then returned to the USA with a concept of building no-interest housing for the poor - a concept that he made into reality?
Who today has not heard of Habitat for Humanity International? From this simple concept begun in 1976, a number of other nonprofit organizations, such as Rebuilding Together and Brad Pitt’s New Orleans Make It Right project, are now working towards the same dream … to rid this country of substandard housing and homelessness.
“Millard Fuller’s drive and relentless commitment to affordable housing captured people’s imagination and changed lives around the world,” said J. Ronald Terwilliger, chair of Habitat for Humanity’s International Board of Directors.
In an earlier interview with the Chicago Tribune Mr. Fuller stated, “We want to make shelter a matter of conscience.”
Habitat has built more than 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 million people with safe, decent and affordable housing. I think we can all agree that he succeeded.
