Millard Fuller

To provide an explanation of what Habitat for Humanity does, I have decided to post a profile of the organizations founder. Millard Fuller.

Millard Fuller did not set out to be a philanthropist. While still attending school, Fuller and a college friend created a marketing firm, which made him a millionaire by the time he was 30. But wealth did not bring him happiness. His marriage and health suffered. So he and his wife took a drastic measure: they sold their possessions and moved to Africa. Using a housing model they developed with others, they began a project to build houses for under privileged families on a non-profit basis. Three years later, they brought this idea back to the United States. The resulting organization was named Habitat for Humanity International. Since then, Habitat has built 500,000 houses serving 2.5 million people across the world.

Before his passing in 2009, Fuller had received over 50 honorary degrees, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom. While giving him this award, president Bill Clinton stated, “Millard Fuller has done as much to make the dream of home ownership a reality in our country and throughout the world as any living person. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Millard Fuller has literally revolutionized the concept of philanthropy.”