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THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING

Helping Others Build Wealth, One House at a Time

“What the poor need is capital, not charity, co-workers, not caseworkers.”

—Millard Fuller, Co-Founder
THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING
and Habitat for Humanity

I met Millard Fuller when he spoke to a group at my church in 1985. Millard was an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. He built a successful business while attending law school and achieved financial independence at an early age. Together, Millard and his wife, Linda, decided that there is more to life than just making money, and they did something truly remarkable. They gave away all the money they had made and dedicated their lives to helping others. They took this action when they were young adults with four young children to raise.

They founded Habitat for Humanity in 1976 and the Fuller Center for Housing in 2005. Millard and Linda motivated millions of volunteers to share their wealth and talents to partner with their less fortunate neighbors to help them build their own homes. More than a million people live today in these houses, and the building continues. In 1996, Millard received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for “revolutionizing the way we look at charity.” The Fuller Center for Housing continues the work that Millard and Linda started and has provided an opportunity for me, and many others who are fortunate enough to own their own homes, to help our hardworking low-income neighbors to build and own their homes.

Providing decent housing for the poor in a community dramatically improves that community. Well-housed students perform better in school. Well-housed employees are healthier, happier, and more productive at work. These new homeowners take a great deal of pride in their homes and take good care of them. They become involved in their community and take responsibility. They pay taxes and fight for issues that affect their community.

The Fuller Center for Housing is a nondenominational Christian organization that welcomes people of all faiths—or no faith at all—to join in eliminating the blight of poverty housing from our communities. In the richest nation in the world, it should be unacceptable for children to grow up in unhealthy, unsafe housing.

Volunteering for the Fuller Center has helped me to understand that each of us can change the world, one family at a time. Every home is a life-changing experience both for the families who live in the home and for the volunteers who help to build it.

Helping others can be a family adventure. All of my children have raised the money for and built a house for a family in need. Through the Fuller Center’s Global Builders Program, you can combine an international family vacation with a volunteer experience that you will always remember. I encourage you to become involved. For current information on the Fuller Center for Housing and how you can get involved in eliminating poverty housing in your town, contact www.FullerCenter.org. I hope to see you on a build site one day soon.

Contact information for
The Fuller Center for Housing
P.O. Box 523
Americus, GA 31709
(229) 924-2900
www.fullercenter.org