February 12, 2009 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Millard Fuller, founder and former longtime leader of Habitat for Humanity International, the house-building charity, died of congestive heart failure last week at age 74.
Since 2005 Mr. Fuller had led the Fuller Center for Housing, a charity he formed in Americus, Ga., following a somewhat contentious departure from Habitat for Humanity.
“Millard Fuller was a force of nature who turned a simple idea into an international organization that has helped more than 300,000 families move from deplorable housing into simple, decent homes they helped build and can afford to buy and live in,” said Jonathan Reckford, chief executive of Habitat for Humanity International, in a statement.
“The entire Habitat family mourns the loss of our founder, a true giant in the affordable-housing movement,” he added.
Early Millionaire
Mr. Fuller, a lawyer by training, was a millionaire entrepreneur before his 30th birthday. He later gave away his wealth and left the business world to dedicate his life to Christian values.
He and his wife, Linda, founded Habitat for Humanity in Americus in 1976, after spending three years honing their volunteer-driven housing-construction system while they lived in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The couple oversaw the charity’s growth and expansion from rural Georgia into a global enterprise that has helped house more than a million people.
Last year Habitat raised more money than all but 13 other organizations in the United States, according to The Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 400 ranking of America’s most-successful fund-raising charities (The Chronicle, October 30).
President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Roslyn, who spend a week each year volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, helped lift the charity’s profile when their association with the group began in 1984.
“Millard Fuller was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known,” Mr. Carter said in a statement. “As the founder of Habitat for Humanity and later the Fuller Center, he was an inspiration to me, other members of our family, and an untold number of volunteers who worked side-by-side under his leadership.”
Fired by Charity’s Board
Four years ago, Mr. Fuller was fired by the Habitat for Humanity board following a yearlong investigation into accusations that he had had inappropriate contact with a female staff member.
Mr. Fuller denied any wrongdoing, calling the board’s action’s “draconian” and “outrageous” in a 2005 interview with The Chronicle.
“Millard Fuller will always be known for Habitat for Humanity,” said Leslie Lenkowsky, professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University and a former head of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal national-service agency.
“Things took a turn that no one wanted to see happen but it can’t take away from his mammoth accomplishments,” Mr. Lenkowsky said. “Millard was a social entrepreneur before social entrepreneurship was even talked about.”
Mr. Fuller initially called his new housing charity Building Habitat, but Habitat for Humanity took him to court over the name, saying that he had infringed on the organization’s trademark.
The renamed Fuller Center for Housing now has affiliates in 41 American cities and more than 15 countries.
The center’s board is meeting this week to discuss Mr. Fuller’s replacement as president.
“Millard would want us to continue working and that’s what we intend to do,” said Holly Chapman, the Fuller Center’s vice president of communications and development. “His vision was to eliminate poverty housing for every single person in the world.”
