Our ministry at a glance

Fuller Center for Housing founder Millard Fuller

Fuller Center for Housing founder Millard Fuller in 2006 in Shreveport, where The Fuller Center built its first houses in the U.S.

Fuller Center for Housing co-founders Linda and Millard Fuller.

Fuller Center co-founders Linda and Millard Fuller.

Millard Fuller with a homeowner in Shreveport in 2006.

President George H.W. Bush honored Linda and Millard Fuller with a medallion Points of Light Volunteer Pathway in Washington, D.C. They were in the first group of 20 honorees enshrined on the pathway, joining Harriet Tubman, Hellen Keller, Clara Barton, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony and others.

Linda and Millard Fuller pose with President Bill Clinton in 1996 when Millard Fuller was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Christian theologian Clarence Jordan founded Koinonia Farm. His principles of partnering with the poor inspired Millard Fuller's affordable housing ministry.

Christian theologian Clarence Jordan founded Koinonia Farm. His principles of partnering with the poor inspired Millard Fuller's affordable housing ministry.

From 1973 to 1976, the Fullers lived in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), where they tested the principles of partnership housing. They returned to the United States in 1976 and launched Habitat for Humanity.

Praying before a build day. The Fuller Center is unashamedly Christian and enthusiastically ecumenical organization.

Praying before a build day in Louisville. The Fuller Center is unashamedly Christian and enthusiastically ecumenical organization.

Praying at the dedication of a home for a family in Louisville. The Fuller Center is unashamedly Christian and enthusiastically ecumenical organization.

House captain Leon Lehman presents a quilt and Bible to Delores Peoples in Atlantic City after her home was repaired. The 2013 Millard Fuller Legacy Build brought hope to more than 20 families whose homes had been impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

On new home builds, Fuller Center volunteers often write messages of hope and Bible verses on the wood.

The 2010 Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Indianapolis.

This street in the Allendale neighborhood of Shreveport was once so crime-ridden and dangerous that police asked Millard Fuller not to work there in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina refugees flooded the town. Not only did The Fuller Center begin work there but the major crime rate has fallen 80 percent since.

The 2009 Millard Fuller Legacy Build came to Millard's hometown of Lanett, Alabama. An entire neighborhood has since been transformed.

The Fuller Center's Save a House/Make a Home initiative takes vacant properties donated by banks and other investors and turns them into like-new homes for families in need. Families are able to purchase the homes at costs that are usually about half that of a new home build and repay the costs on terms they can afford with zero interest charged and no profit made. The funds stay in the community to help others become homeowners. Not only does this program allow more people to become homeowners, but it also reduces blight and help turn people into givers and taxpayers themselves.

Grammy award-winning musician John Mayer paints the home of Army veteran Cliff Malone during the Veterans Build in Shreveport.

Kendra Singleton gets a hug from a volunteer after receiving a Bible and the keys to a renovated property that is now her home in Louisville.

The Fuller Center's Greater Blessing program makes repairs to existing homes, often for elderly and disabled residents — helping them stay safely in their houses.

Disabled homeowner Irma Jean Winslow, who also cares for a disabled daughter, gets a hug from Warren Johnson of the Perry Georgia Fuller Center after her home was repaired during a Greater Blessing project.

Lambi Village is a community of 56 beautiful, safe homes near Leogane, Haiti. The Fuller Center came to Haiti to work after the 2010 earthquake and has changed the culture in place where it now works in a more traditional method. Many Haitians have have their initiative sapped by well-meaning handouts. The Fuller Center empowers Haitians to help themselves have simple, decent homes, working alongside, not for, the Haitian people.

Repeat Global Builder Amara Neng with young friends in Haiti.

Tamara Danel (right) says goodbye to friends she made during a Global Builders trip to Nicaragua.

A homeowner partner family in Armenia — The Fuller Center's busiest international covenant partner.

A homeowner partner child in Armenia.

Deepa Tamong and her daughter in Trishuli village, Nepal. Though just 30 miles from the epicenter of the April 2015 earthquake, The Fuller Center's 11 homes in Trishuli all escaped unscathed. Now, The Fuller Center has embarked upon a mission to build 200 more homes in Trishuli and is sharing its building technology with other groups in the country so that they can replicate The Fuller Center's success.

Fuller Center President David Snell receives a woven tapestry as a token of appreciation from residents of Kankad, Nepal. The residents there are from a caste that is considered at the bottom of the caste system there.

U.S. Builders: Ohio State University students with Americus-Sumter Fuller Center volunteer and board member Thad Harris on the site of a home repair project. Thad became a Fuller Center homeowner in 2010 and now is one of The Fuller Center's most enthusiastic volunteers.

U.S. Builders: A University of Cincinnati student works in Sumter County, Georgia.

U.S. Builders: An Ohio State student works in Sumter County, Georgia.

Ana Tarazona Ramos (left) came to La Florida, Peru with her three children and a hope and a prayer after moving from rented room to rented room and finally becoming homeless in Lima, Peru. In La Florida, she not only found volunteers willing to help her build a stable home for her family, but she also discovered something within herself. She even went on to become mayor of La Florida and is now a leader in the region.

Thad Harris was required to put in 350 hours of "sweat equity" in the building of his home in Americus. By the time it was completed, he'd put in more than 500 and remains one of our most dedicated volunteers helping others have decent homes. The Fuller Center asks partner families to be full participants in the building process.

Thad Harris in front of his new home in Americus, Georgia. Not only is the home custom built throughout to accommodate his needs but it also received a Gold Star rating for energy efficiency, saving Thad hundreds of dollars annually on his utility bills.

The Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure is The Fuller Center's single biggest fundraiser. There is a weeklong Spring Ride, a summer ride that lasts 9-10 weeks and a two-day fall ride.

Kelsey Correa (left) and Kelser Merz with a homeowner partner in New Jersey during one of the Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure's build days.

Fuller Center Bicycle Adventurers take a break from their summer ride to help build a ramp at a home.

Fuller Center founder Millard Fuller and current President David Snell were longtime friends and worked together at Habitat for Humanity before coming together again to start The Fuller Center for Housing.

Fuller Center President David Snell

Fuller Center President David Snell.

Former President Jimmy Carter and Millard Fuller during a retreat in 1985. The Fullers' work received a tremendous boost when they successfully recruited Carter to their cause.

Sisters Sophie and Jasmine Luedi (granddaughters of Millard and Linda Fuller) pose during the Lind-A Hand Build (Linda Fuller's Build for Women) in Lanett, Alabama, in June 2015.