It took 20 years for Habitat for Humanity to build its first 50,000 homes. Four years later, the organization — which uses volunteers to construct houses for low-income families — is hammering the final nails into its 100,000th home.
The construction push has stretched from a former president’s peanut farm to a restored building in New York’s Harlem neighborhood.
Millard Fuller, a former millionaire who used his wealth to start the organization 24 years ago, said the group hopes to raise $5 billion to build 100,000 more homes in five years. With more than 2,000 affiliates in 68 countries, Habitat completes a home every 30 minutes.
“I think what we’re seeing is the emergence of a new social and religious movement, which is ending poverty housing and homelessness,” he said. “The growth of this work is escalating tremendously.”
“We’re putting in the finishing touches. This is really exciting for my family,” said Colin Baynes, who along with his wife and 5-year-old son will move next month into the 100,000th Habitat home in Harlem.
The group’s 100,001st home, in Plains, Ga., where President Jimmy Carter’s father grew peanuts and cotton, will be turned over to Eugene and Michele Hughley, who are both prison guards.
Carter, who turns 76 next month, said the site has special significance to him because it’s where he “used to pick cotton and shake peanuts.”
Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have volunteered for the group since 1984.
