Millard and Linda Fuller

Linda and Millard Fuller Co-Founders of Habitat for Humanity shown here working on carpentry detail.

The American recipe for success and happiness for a young couple is one educated, beautifully turned-out wife, combined with one super-successful businessman husband, two beautiful children and a great, big, beautifully decorated house. This is the American Dream. Millard and Linda Fuller, co-founders of Habitat for Humanity, the non-profit organization that has built over 65,000 houses for people who need them, had the two kids, the well-educated wife and the super-successful businessman husband. They even had the architect's plans to build their beautiful dream house. There was only one problem: the Fullers were miserable in their marriage. When a marriage is in trouble, some couples start having affairs, others get a divorce, and some couples start building a bigger house. For Millard and Linda Fuller, the answer wasn't building a bigger house, it was building houses for others.

Millard Fuller.

The Fullers are acclaimed for starting and running Habitat for Humanity, which now has over 2,000 chapters worldwide, and brings Christians, Jews, men and women, corporate people and blue-collar folk together to provide homes for families in need. While they have received recognition for their accomplishments through this organization, they also are truly heroic for the things they gave up, for their ability to throw out a recipe that was sour for them.

Recalls Linda Fuller, "After so many years of marriage, we had two kids and I had finished my college degree. I was really lonely because Millard was working every night. We had all the money and clothes we wanted, and were talking to an architect about building a huge house."

"After I finished my classes and had time to think, I realized I was lonely and miserable. I went to New York to see a pastor Millard and I had known. I stayed there for a few weeks."

Millard remembers about that time, "I wanted to make money, buy big cars, have a big house. My business was first. Everything else was second, my wife and our kids. I worked all day, came home had supper, and went back to work. My marriage suffered, our relationship suffered, while my business grew."

Linda Fuller.

"By the time Millard came to New York, it was like death walked in the door. He realized we were in crisis. I knew I wanted our marriage to work, but I didn't see how that could happen with him working all the time," says Linda.

Discouraged and confused, but still talking, the two went to see a movie ironically called "Never Too Late." Too distraught to sit through the movie, Linda and Millard walked the streets of New York and wound up sitting on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral. "We shared with each other how our marriage had gone wrong and we both wanted to make it right. On the taxi cab ride back to the hotel, we both felt like God was talking to us and that we should devote our lives to Christian work. The next morning we hailed a taxi and the driver said, 'Congratulations, you're riding in a brand new taxi no one has ridden in.' We felt it was a sign that we were on a brand-new adventure."

The Fullers sold everything they had and gave every dime away in their search for peace. However, the Fullers weren't content to simply give money away to a cause. Recalls Millard, "We wanted to make our lives count. We tried to figure out, 'what does God want us to do with our lives?"

An HFH volunteer enjoys masonry.

At first, Millard began working at a small African-American college, using his business sense to get money for the struggling school. Then, the Fullers went to live in a small Christian community called Koinonia Farm, located near Americus, Georgia, where people were looking for practical ways to apply Christ's teachings. While living in this community, the Fullers, along with other members of Koinonia Farm, began developing an idea for building low-income housing.

Recalls Millard, "While people had been building houses for thousands of years, and often with the help of neighbors, no one seemed to be building houses as an expression of God's love. It was too big for any one group. Jews, Christians or Muslims, we would welcome anyone, whoever wanted to participate."

"It was so wonderful to be on the same road," Linda recalls. "After we lived in the Christian Community, we wanted to try building homes in developing countries. We moved to Africa for three years and I had a home delivery there." Returning to Georgia, the Fullers lived in a poor community and observed their surroundings.

An HFH-built housing tract.

Habitat for Humanity was formally created in 1976. The Fullers' philospohy is simple: every person on this planet should have a simple and decent place to live. While volunteers from the community and from outside provide free labor and materials, the family who receives the house must put in 300 hours of work themselves. Their hard work is considered the down payment.

Habitat for Humanity is a presence all over the world. Their International Headquarters is in Americus, Georgia. The Fullers see Americus as their base of operations to help organize and support the many national and international chapters. Homes have been built in 79 countries, and in all of the USA's 50 states.

Today, the Fuller children are in the Habitat business, where friends and associates like Jimmy Carter work with them. Starting and growing Habitat is an achievement in and of itself, but figuring out how to save a marriage and create something so beautiful together is why I consider the Fullers to be my heroes.