Firm Foundations

Leonard "Roosevelt" Williams, at the age of 53, built a typical shanty in a squatters' settlement on Manhattan's Lower East Side after he became homeless, the place where he worked burned down, and he was mugged while looking for work in the city. Without knowing it, Williams had the good fortune of lodging himself in the shadow of a six-story building under renovation for the working poor by Habitat for Humanity. Within months Williams had landed a part-time job at the construction site as a night security guard and, excited about the goals of the program, had volunteered time on the building crew.

Williams now lives in a new apartment in the building where he works. When it is completed, the converted tenement will house 19 families, who will purchase their apartments interest-free. He is one of thousands of persons whose lives have been changed for the better by Habitat for Humanity, a 10-year-old ecumenical housing ministry whose goal is to provide simple, decent housing for God's people in need.

Habitat is the brain child of Millard Fuller, a native Southerner whose charisma, energy, and entrepreneurial acumen accelerated him to a position of wealth and power; by the age of 29, he was a millionaire lawyer and businessman. Millard was also speeding toward marital breakup and spiritual bankruptcy when he heard the call to discipleship that Jesus extended to the rich young ruler in the gospel: "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Luke 18:22).

But instead of walking sadly away, grasping their considerable possessions, Millard and his wife, Linda, prayerfully committed themselves to a new way of life. For almost 20 years now, the Fullers have channeled their energies into projects on behalf of the poor.

THE IDEA FOR HABITAT for Humanity found root in the mid-'60s when the Fullers met Clarence Jordan, founder of Koinonia Partners, a Christian community near Americus, Georgia. Jordan's conviction that "what poor people need is capital not charity" stirred Millard's imagination. After all, hadn't he demonstrated an ability for multiplying capital? Would this skill continue to be part of his Christian vocation?

Together Millard and Clarence created the Fund for Humanity - a campaign to raise money for the construction of low-income housing. The fund became the basis for Koinonia's house-building program and other ministries as well as for Habitat for Humanity. Donated monies are put into the fund in order to purchase building materials, and volunteer labor is used as much as possible to actually build the houses. Then, as houses are sold, the monthly payments replenish the fund.

This source, plus all new contributions and no-interest loans from supporters, provides a continuous stream of capital for further building projects. By functioning as a private mortgage company, Habitat can sell houses at no profit and at no interest to buyers, which means the cost can be kept within reach of low-income families.

In 1973 the Fullers and their children left Koinonia to serve as missionaries for the Church of Christ in Zaire, where Millard organized two housing projects using the Fund for Humanity principles. In Mbandaka, Zaire, 162 houses were built on a strip of land donated by the Zaire government, which had formerly been the official dividing line separating Africans from white colonialists. Bokotola, it had been named, meaning "man who does not care for others." But no one who knew the history missed the irony of how that strip of land was transformed, its meaning reversed.

A spirit of community emerged in the neighborhood. Prospective buyers donated labor - a version of "sweat equity" that became a permanent feature of future projects. Bricks for the houses were made locally in a plant that provided an important source of employment for many local men, and classes and recreational activities were later offered with the wide ecumenical support of local mission churches.

This project and another in Ntondo, Zaire, did not, of course, solve the problem of housing in Zaire, but the successes did assure Millard that the idea was flexible and sound enough to fit a variety of regional settings. It could be exported.

MILLARD AND LINDA returned to Americus, Georgia, in 1976, determined to set up the international housing enterprise which became known as Habitat for Humanity. In 1986, 10 years later, Habitat launched a $10 million campaign to fund projects in more than 170 cities in the United States and projects in 17 countries abroad. Two thousand houses have been built to date, with another thousand expected to be under way in 1987.

Although Habitat is ecumenical, its style of worship is evangelical - singing, preaching, and a bit of Bible thumping - sometimes with a twist, such as hard hats being passed down the aisles as offering plates. The pitch is: No profit, no interest - "the economics of Jesus," as Millard Fuller says. Habitat does not give away shelter; it sells affordable houses (at cost) to people who need them - Habitat's combination of gospel compassion and Christian partnership.

Millard's style is pure cheerleading; he sparks a rally by shouting, "No More Shacks! No More Shacks! No More Shacks!" with a fervor and redundancy that would embarrass most people. But Millard is too enthusiastic to be embarrassed and too convinced of the opportunity hidden in this precise moment. Habitat isn't his program, he'd be the first to admit. It's "for God's people," and it is directed "by God's people." The straightforward humility of his approach is both palpable and infectious. So the marches, balloons, and banners - even the hard-sell, computerized direct mail campaigns - all come off as spiritual as they are effective.

Habitat is about change, external and internal, through partnership. The following story from No More Shacks, Millard's latest book, illustrates that Habitat is also about healing the blind so that they can see:

Let me tell you a true story....I was having breakfast and the phone rang....

Curtis [his host] said, "A man who heard you in church yesterday called to say that when he walked out of the house this morning, he noticed that the house across the street was in pitiful condition. He said he had never noticed it before, and he was so upset he went to his next door neighbor who had also been in church with him...and asked if he had noticed the condition of the house across the street. He said he looked over there and said that he really hadn't seen it!

They both went right over, and there was a poor widow with very limited income. The house was leaking, the walls were falling in, the floor was caving in, and this man was calling to tell his pastor they were staying out of work that day to get started on repairing her house!"

Habitat has other spokespersons: the two most famous are former President Jimmy Carter and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, both active board members. Young's college-age daughter, Paula, served Habitat both as an overseas and U.S. volunteer and joined her father and thousands of other supporters at the New York City building dedication in the fall of 1985. Jimmy and. Rosalyn Carter have taken hammers in hand repeatedly, demonstrating a solid commitment to Habitat's brand of Christian service.

HABITAT'S HEADQUARTERS in Americus is impressive and expansive, taking up most of two city blocks, but it is also modest. Volunteers, who raise most if not all of their own transportation and living expenses, live in a row of refurbished houses. A cordial bustle hums through the buildings where the volunteers and a handful of full-time paid professionals work. Habitat keeps overhead to a minimum and exaggerates the do-it-yourself decor. The result is consonant with the purpose of the program.

The Habitat headquarters serves as an umbrella organization for the "affiliates," largely autonomous local projects throughout the United States, and "sponsored" projects in foreign countries. "How-to" literature and promotional materials are available for local groups, and regular visits are made to oversee local Habitat projects. Affiliate projects in the United States tithe a portion of their cash contributions to Habitat headquarters, which uses it for the international work of Habitat.

The decentralized structure of Habitat allows flexibility and regional tailoring with each project, and greater numbers of people can become engaged in the work. For example, several work camps from various churches might spend a week or more laboring on a building, and the prospective buyers also put in a stipulated number of hours. A local board or committee selects future owners on the basis of need, ability to make a down payment and monthly installments, and willingness to work on the building. The mayor, city council, clubs, and civic organizations are often approached for support as well.

By the time a local project is completed, hundreds of people have literally had a hand in it. Hundreds more know about it. Habitat is purposefully labor intensive. As President Carter remarked, "Habitat brings people together."

The nature of Habitat was spelled out for me in the Fullers' kitchen. As I sat eating lunch, Millard nonchalantly said, "What an act of faith it is to build a foundation in the muzzle of a gun." I had asked him why Habitat was building a new project in Nicaragua given the instability of the region. That one sentence was his reply.

Of course, political instability hadn't stopped Habitat from building houses in Zaire, Haiti, Guatemala, Uganda, or Peru. So I wasn't surprised to learn that proposals for two new sites in Nicaragua have been approved - 17 houses in Pancasan, 22 in Luis Andino.

IN 1984, DON MOSLEY, of Jubilee Partners in Comer, Georgia, and a charter member of the Habitat board, had helped Bob Stevens, Habitat director of operations, to select the site for Habitat's first project in Nicaragua. The town of German Pomares, near the northern border of Nicaragua in the Chinandega Province, was chosen because "it was the most pitiful housing we had seen in Nicaragua," Mosley said.

Approximately 400 families live in German Pomares, scattered about in thatched huts. The countryside is green with lush foliage, but the houses have no plumbing and, of course, no hot water; all water for drinking must be purified. The only store is a small co-op, and the closest town to German Pomares is a three-hour walk away. A few tractors, horses, and mules help with work and transportation. But the only car, available for emergencies, belongs to Jim and Sarah Hornsby, Habitat workers at the project site since December 1984, with the Evangelical Committee for Aid and Development (CEPAD), Habitat's liaison in Nicaragua.

Twenty acres of land were designated for the Habitat project in German Pomares. Meanwhile, however, 24 Habitat brick houses with red tile roofs have been built for the townspeople.

Habitat has a policy of building only where it is invited. Every host country must take initiative for a Habitat project, with a local committee assuming the basic responsibilities such as house payments and proposals for future houses. The local committee must also conform to the nonexclusive principles set by Habitat for non-discrimination of residents on the basis of religion and political affiliation, and it must also agree that buyers purchase the house at cost. Habitat International absorbs initial outlays of administrative expenses and equipment and sends trained volunteers to work in partnership with the local people.

At the current exchange rate, a Habitat house in German Pomares costs less than $1,000 in U.S. currency. Even so, poverty among the people in German Pomares is so great that it will be difficult for many to purchase a house. The tile and block-making projects, similar to those in Mbandaka, Zaire, will employ some workers, boosting their opportunity to own a house. For others it will not be so easy.

A woman who now teaches one of Sarah Hornsby's embroidery classes had studied sewing for nine years, but she didn't even possess her own needle. For the 40 women in Sarah Hornsby's classes, Don and Carolyn Mosley brought hundreds of dollars worth of thread, scissors, bolts of fabric, metric tape measures, and other supplies.

INTERNAL FRICTION WITHIN the Roman Catholic Church in Nicaragua and its divided response to the Sandinistas make the religious situation tense. While the overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans are Roman Catholic, Protestants are divided among 80 or so different denominations, the largest being the Moravians. Jim Hornsby, a Presbyterian from North Carolina, holds a regular Sunday service in German Pomares, because the priest is able to come only once a year. Hornsby uses the lectionary and folk music from the Misa Campesina. The service is ecumenical and well-attended.

"We've been able to share and pray with political leaders and soldiers, Catholics and evangelicals, and...farmers and teachers," said Jim Hornsby, who also leads a 6:30 a.m. Bible study and prayer time with the Habitat building crew. "The project itself is a good witness. People know it is a demonstration of God's love, and it gives us an open door to share Christ. So we see not only house foundations being built, but Christian leadership as well."

Rafael, a local resident who now lives with the Hornsbys, is a Roman Catholic delegate of the Word. Rafael is a trained electrician who had no tools and only a cupful of solder when the Hornsbys arrived. Discouraged by his inability to work - he is crippled by polio - and prone toward alcoholism, Rafael went on a long drinking binge. Afterward, he felt unworthy to read the Word. Finally, after the Hornsbys worked with him for some time, Rafael recovered, stopped drinking, and decided to read the Word again.

At the Sunday worship, Rafael stood to read the epistle from the lectionary: "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:18,19). Eventually, Rafael gathered enough materials to begin working again as well.

Habitat for Humanity is a way of alleviating suffering, even in the war-torn environment of Nicaragua. But building a home is such a fragile gesture in time of war. As Carolyn and Don Mosley described the conditions in German Pomares, I kept remembering Millard's words: "What an act of faith it is to build a foundation in the muzzle of a gun." ?

Karen Sue Smith, a former resident of Koinonia Partners in Americus, Georgia, was assistant editor of Commonweal magazine in New York City and a member of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Brooklyn when this article appeared.