Habitat for Humanity:

Building for The Future

Other Ministry Profiles on our site:
American Bible Society - Ten Thousand Villages - SERRV International - Prison Fellowship - Billy Graham Evangelistic Association -  L'arches - Christians for Biblical Equality - One Great Hour of Sharing - Habitat for Humanity -  Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus - Bread for the World - Covenant House

More than 25 years ago, Millard Fuller had a vision to help the world’s neediest people obtain one of life’s most basic necessities - a simple, decent place to live. From the rickety shacks of Sumter County, Ga., to the mud huts of the Africa continent, Fuller and his wife, Linda, saw firsthand the poverty in which people are forced to live -but find it nearly impossible to thrive. Roofs leak, cold winds blow through cracked walls and vermin often crawl up through floorboards. But he knew that life could be different for them and all people had to do was lend them a helping hand up out of despair. In 1976, Habitat for Humanity International was born in Americus, Georgia, and has now grown into one of the largest home-building organizations in the world. So far, Millard Fuller and his band of volunteers and homeowners have built more than 100,000 houses, which half a million people call home in 83 countries.

Habitat has a simple formula to house the world: they partner with families, who invest hundreds of "sweat equity" hours working on other families’ homes. After they help others, they put in more hours working on their own homes, alongside volunteers and skilled professionals. Habitat keeps the costs of the homes low by using volunteer labor and donated materials. Finally, after the family moves in, they pay off a no-interest, no-profit mortgage, which goes to build even more homes.

Habitat for Humanity International isn’t just building homes; it’s changing lives and giving people hope. Emma and Huey Myers are just one Habitat success story. After 49 years of marriage, the Myers finally moved into a home of their own.

"This is the best gift I could have ever hoped for," said Emma Myers, standing in the front yard of her white home nestled beneath Georgia pine trees. "The Lord has truly blessed us this year." Huey Myers, who started work as a farmer at the age of 9, rented a home in a cotton field for 32 years from the family for whom he worked. The Myers raised five sons in that house and say that—while they made many fond memories in the blue, cinder-block structure—they are glad to have a home of their own.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian ministry, but people don’t have to be a Christian to help or own a Habitat home. "We know that religion is usually expressed in terms of singing and talking, but true religion has to have an action component to it," Fuller said. "You can sing and talk all day, but you won’t build a house unless somebody drives a nail and lays a block."

When Fuller started on this amazing adventure, he gave away a hard-earned, million-dollar fortune and forever left behind the world of corporate profits with one goal in mind: to rid the world of substandard housing and give people’s lives dignity and self-respect.

"I now know that doing well in life isn’t gauged by a bank account," he said. "I view success one family at a time, one home at a time."

By Kimberly Moore