Millard Fuller

Millard Dean Fuller (January 3, 1935 – February 3, 2009)[1] was an American humanitarian and missionary who was the co-founder and the former president of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit organization known globally for building houses for those in need.

[2] In 1968, after giving up their wealth to refocus their lives on Christian service, Fuller and his wife, Linda, moved with their children to an interracial farming community in southwest Georgia.

Koinonia Farm, founded by Clarence Jordan in 1942, became home to the Fuller family for five years until they moved to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) as missionaries in 1973 with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

[3] Upon returning to the United States, the Fullers began a Christian ministry at Koinonia Farm building simple, decent houses for low-income families in their community using volunteer labor and donations, and requiring repayment only of the cost of the materials used.

Believing that what the poor needed was capital, not charity,[4] Jordan and Millard Fuller, along with other members of the Koinonia community, planned to develop a revolving "Fund for Humanity" which would take in donations that would be used to purchase building materials.

[citation needed] Fuller moved his family to Zaire (currently called the Democratic Republic of the Congo), in 1973, to implement the ideals of Partnership Housing in the African context.

Concerned residents worked with Fuller to develop a program similar to that in Zaire, using volunteer labor to construct affordable, safe houses for needy families in San Antonio's slums.

He and Linda were fired in March 2005 amid allegations of inappropriate behavior by him directed toward a female employee and conflicting opinions about future plans for Habitat's expansion.

He continued to travel extensively, speaking at Habitat affiliates and Fuller Center Covenant Partnerships to raise awareness, funds and volunteers in his effort to eradicate poverty housing from the face of the earth.

In September 1996, United States President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, and said, "Millard Fuller has done as much to make the dream of homeownership a reality in our country and throughout the world as any living person.

[13] In October 2005, the Fullers were honored by former President George H. W. Bush and the Points of Light Foundation with a bronze medallion embedded in The Extra Mile national monument in Washington, DC.

President Jimmy Carter speaking at the 27th annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project event on World Habitat Day.
Millard and Linda Fuller honoree medallion located on The Extra Mile memorial beginning at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Street, NW and continues north on 15th Street to G Street, NW. There, it turns east on G Street for two blocks to its intersection with 13th Street, in Washington, DC.