About Habitat for Humanity

Utilizing volunteer labor, donations of money, and discounted materials and services, Habitat for Humanity is able to build simple, decent, and affordable housing. Partner families invest hundreds of hours of their own labor or “sweat equity” into building their house as well as Habitat houses for others. Each family’s mortgage payments help Habitat fund the building of additional homes.

Board Members

Sarah Brown Mathews, President
Diana Marie Waggener, Vice-President
Chris Aneiros, Treasurer
Nikol Antoniono, Secretary
Dan Aneiros
Guillermo Brizuela
Stacy Lane
Jamie LeJambre

Annual Report

2009 Annual Report

Habitat International

Since its founding in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) has built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 houses with partner families, helping house more than 1.5 million people and becoming a true world leader in addressing the issues of poverty housing.

Koinonia Farm and the Fund for Humanity
The concept that grew into Habitat for Humanity International was born at Koinonia Farm, a small, interracial, Christian farming community founded in 1942 outside of Americus, Ga., by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan. The Fullers first visited Koinonia in 1965, having recently left a successful business in Montgomery, Ala., and all the trappings of an affluent lifestyle to begin a new life of Christian service. At Koinonia, Jordan and Fuller developed the concept of "partnership housing," where those in need of adequate shelter would work side by side with volunteers to build simple, decent houses.

The houses would be built with no profit added and no interest charged. Building would be financed by a revolving Fund for Humanity. The fund's money would come from the new homeowners' house payments, donations and no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fund-raising activities. The monies in the Fund for Humanity would be used to build more houses.

In 1973, the Fullers decided to apply the Fund for Humanity concept in developing countries. The Fuller family moved to Mbandaka, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). The Fullers' goal was to offer affordable yet adequate shelter to 2,000 people. After three years of hard work to launch a successful house building program, the Fullers returned to the United States.

In September 1976, Millard and Linda called together a group of supporters to discuss the future of their dream. Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) as an organization was born at this meeting. The eight years that followed, vividly described in Millard Fuller's book, Love in the Mortar Joints, proved that the vision of a housing ministry was workable. Faith, hard work and direction set HFHI on its successful course.

In 1984, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn took their first Habitat work trip, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, to New York City. Their personal involvement in Habitat's ministry brought the organization national visibility and sparked interest in Habitat's work across the nation. HFHI experienced a dramatic increase in the number of new affiliates around the country.

Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found new hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem – decent housing for all. Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses, sheltering more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities worldwide.