Habitat for Humanity rebuilds hope

History and Background of Habitat for Humanity

A man named Milliard Fuller had a dream. His dream was not yet realized at a younger age. He attended Auburn University when he met his wife. He studied economics and later went to the University of Alabama to pursue his law degree. There he met his wife Linda and began his business adventures. He dated Linda her whole senior year of High School and a year later married her. Outside of classes he would sell trashcan holders, door mats, had a Christmas tree lot, and a cake service. He made enough money to buy houses and land. He rented the houses to the students and used the land to start a mobile home park.

            After college they moved to Montgomery, Alabama to pursue a business venture with his law friend, Morris Dees. Dees was a young entrepreneur like Fuller. He is known for starting the Southern Poverty Law Center, suing racist organizations and fighting for civil rights. They began a law office and business ventures together. Business became so profitable that Fuller decided to focus mainly on the business aspect of things. Business was thriving for eight years they worked together until he realized his family was suffering because he was never at home. Linda finally left Milliard alone. He took it hard and remembered when his mother died when he was at the age of 3 and his father and stepmother raised him and his house was broken up. He wanted to fix it and met with Linda months later and they both decided to leave the millions of dollars they earned and all their material possessions and start over.

            Now with four children, themselves, and God they ended up in a little town what is now called Americus, Georgia. The town of Americus was poverty stricken to boot. They met a man named Clarence Jordan. He was a very Christian man. He lived his life everyday by God’s word. He began to instill in Milliard and Linda what he has learned and knows. They took it to heart. Then Fuller had an idea to help the people of Americus relinquish their shacks for decent housing. They began to work with the people of Americus and called in some friend volunteers and began building houses. They were not liked in the town by the “white power” extremist that lived there. They would dynamite and start fights with them. However, with support from Fuller’s friend and others he kept pressing on.

            After the work done in Georgia Fuller has a bigger idea to build houses for other poverty-stricken areas. Then he thinks of Africa. He and his wife travel to Congo and build houses for the families there. During all these builds he realizes that there is a need for affordable housing for everybody and believes this is what God would do so why shouldn’t he. So he presses on with his ministry.

            They come back to Americas, Georgia and in 1976 established Habitat for Humanity. The organization gained a lot of attention. Students from many colleges and universities would come to build, volunteers, friends, and finally Fuller managed to get former President Jimmy Carter at his builds. Getting Carter was not easy. He wrote a letter to President Reagan, at that time, asking why Carter would not help. Carter found out and wanted to know why he would say such a thing. Finally it came about one day when the Fuller’s had a national marathon in support of Habitat for Humanity, which people would walk for Georgia to Indiana, when Carter’s wife joined in the march and told the Fuller’s she supported what they are doing. Milliard wrote Carter a letter, with Carter’s request to do so, fifteen things that he could do to help Habitat. Thinking Carter would only choose two or three and told him he would do all fifteen.

            Jimmy Carter definitely gave Habitat for Humanity significance! He became involved with the organization, along with his wife and never stopped. This drew more and more volunteers to help. The company began so large. Donations, sweat equity by home owners, and regular volunteers helped the organization flourish. A board of trustees was a large part of Habitat, almost too large.

            The Board was hand-picked by Fuller. It was pastors he knew as well a smart businessmen. He always wanted Habitat to have Christian values and the satisfaction of helping those who need it, but as the organization grew the Board started to make it more businesslike and bureaucratic. Fuller and the Board disagreed regularly on all aspects.

            In 2005 Fuller was said to have inappropriately touched, hugged, and commented to a female Habitat employee. The Board reviewed the accusations and found nothing. Later Fuller apologized to the female. However, with many years of disagreements with Fuller this was the cherry on top for the Board. A decision was made to oust Fuller. It was not a unanimous vote, but the strong members stated their opinion and swayed the one’s that didn’t agree.  

            This came as a complete shocked to Fuller and his wife, who was also ousted. This is a man who founded the organization and is being fired by his own Board. The Board states, “The board investigated and dismissed the allegations -- and then fired Mr. Fuller, charging that his public comments about the case were "divisive and disruptive to the organization's work."(Berkshire)  Fuller says that the real reason is because they didn’t agree or get along and that is the true reason they wanted to oust him. After numerous law suits on both behalf of both parties Fuller left and started a new organization that helps affiliates of Habitat for Humanity called the Fuller Center.

"We had the heads of Dow Chemical, Citibank," recalls Mr. Fuller. "The board had become a prestigious place to be, and people campaigned to get on it." (Berkshire)

The presence of so many corporate leaders around the board table came with a price, he says. In the final years of his tenure, he clashed repeatedly with the Board of Directors over the charity's direction. (Berkshire)

"I wanted to run it like a ministry and they wanted to run it like a business," he says, citing disputes over such issues as the appropriate rate of expansion (he sought to open chapters in every country in the world, while the board supported consolidating the least-productive affiliates) and whether the charity's headquarters should remain in Americus, as Mr. Fuller wanted, or move to Atlanta as some board members thought was wise. (Habitat officials declined to comment on Mr. Fuller's statements.) (Berkshire)

Detailed Case Description and Media Coverage

            In 2003 a female Habitat for Humanity employee accuses the founder of the organization, Milliard Fuller, of sexual harassment. It alleges to happen in a car ride to the airport in Atlanta, Georgia. He got in the car with her by himself and she claimed to become very uncomfortable with his actions. Fuller says the small town he comes from showing affection to girls is by a hug or a kiss on the cheek is what he has always done and meant nothing by it. He apologizes to her. Then other women start to claim the same accusations against Fuller. He ends up apologizing to five different women. Fuller wife, although stressed about the situation, stays by his side.

            The Board of Trustees investigates the allegations and found no proof of the incident. They still decided to fire Fuller because he continues to talk about the incident to everyone. They say it gives the organization a bad name as long as he is still affiliated with the organization. Fuller never wanted to put Habitat in bad light so he leaves. He starts another organization called Help Habitat but only finds himself in a lawsuit with Habitat because they say people will become confused by the similar names and will not donate or donate to the wrong organization. Fuller likes the idea of having his name in the title of an organization so presses on to change the name from Help Habitat to the Fuller Center.

            Fuller told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "I devoted 29 years of my life to this -- morning, noon and night -- and then these people say that they can't stand any criticism.” (Pierce)

Fuller admitted to the Atlanta newspaper that he is "a hard charger" and "sometimes damages relationships," particularly with the Habitat board. In a personal statement released Feb. 1, Fuller called their firings an "extreme decision" but urged continued support for Habitat. (Pierce)

The chief board member says, "In every instance, the Fullers ultimately have rejected or been openly critical of any and all steps taken toward appropriate compromise," said Ramsey. "The board must therefore fulfill its fiduciary obligation to the organization and our moral responsibility to all those who share in Habitat's mission. No issue, no person, no debate can be permitted to compromise the integrity and work of this extraordinary ministry." (Pierce)

So was a miss communication from the board and the founder the issue or was Fuller singled out by his business-like board? Richard Moyers, Nonprofit Sector Fund at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, in Washington has his own opinion.

He notes that, according to the 2006 survey, 25 percent of executive directors aren't getting regular performance reviews from their boards, and even those who are receiving assessments say that they aren't helpful. "That's where you end up with a situation where, from the executive director's point of view, everything is going fine, then suddenly the board is really unhappy," says Mr. Moyers.(Berkshire)

The Fuller Center helps the affiliates of Habitat for Humanity with donations and volunteers. The organization still operates today.

            Fuller is admired by many regardless of the accusations brought against him. His vision to build stable housing for the poor is forever integrated in people’s hearts. He says he planted the seed and it will continue through the faith of others. One person alone cannot do it alone. Jimmy Carter has always admired Fuller’s vision and stuck by Fuller through it all. Volunteers and Habitat employees will always remember him as someone with a big heart. He gave up millions of dollars and material items for the love of his family and for poverty stricken families to have somewhere to lay their heads at night.

Critique of Habitat for Humanity and Media Coverage

            I believe the case for Habitat for Humanity is a reaction from miss communication. Fuller usually stay on the outside building and visiting affiliates when he could. He knew what needed to be done and did it. The board overlooked the finances and the business aspect of things so the two collided with disagreement. He believed in professing his ministry through God’s word and make livable conditions favorable for everyone. The board loaded with business savvy individuals believed in turning Habitat into a business rather than an organization.

            Neither side conferred with the other. So no one knew how the other was feeling about any given situation. I feel if they regularly met and discussed issues relating to Habitat many of the problems could have been fixed.

Fuller said in an interview one time that, “The board of directors of Habitat for Humanity International is a very responsible group of people from around the world who guide the policy of Habitat for Humanity. We now are in 60 countries. We're building in 2,200 cities. We've built 65,000 houses as of mid-1998. We're continuing to build a house every 45 minutes, but I'm never satisfied. The reason I am not satisfied is because I know how big the problem is, and I realize that unless we accelerate the pace, we are not eliminating poverty housing. The problem is getting bigger, so we've got to constantly search for better ways to do what I think God has called us to do in a faster way. It's like the space exploration program. You've got to figure out how to do it better, faster, cheaper.” (Hole)

"When you act in crisis, time is short, options are few, and emotions are high -- it's the worst-case scenario."(Berkshire)

Don’t wait until the last minute to communicate on an issue. Make sure there is no issue by regular input from committees, and boards to alleviate conflict. Everyone should have a say.

I feel the Board took the issue too far when they fired Fuller quickly. Fuller founded the organization and has a face with his organization. This can cause others to react to their decisions that they made. Habitat could have easily gone under quickly.

Fuller should not have spoken to the media but after being fired with no excuses that is to be expected. The Board should have handle things slower and carefully in light of the many individuals who love this man. It caused a negative impact on Habitat that could have been prevented.