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About Habitat
In 1968, Millard Fuller, businessman and lawyer from Alabama, and Dr. Clarence Jordan, founder of Koinonia Farms in Americus, Georgia, began work to eliminate substandard housing in Sumter County, Georgia. Determined not to act as money lender and charge interest when lending to the poor, Koinonia Farms began building and selling houses to the poor at no profit, no interest in 1968. Rapid building continues in Sumter County today. A local initiative is underway to eliminate all substandard housing by the year 2000. In 1973, Millard and Linda Fuller carried the Koinonia Farms concept to Zaire, Africa, and launched a building program for more than 160 houses. When they returned to the United States in 1976, the Fullers settled in Americus, Georgia, and created Habitat for Humanity in order to expand their work. Habitat is still headquartered in America, Georgia, and has more than 1,000 affiliates across the United States. Habitat also operates in 40 countries around the world. By early 1994 over 25,000 homes were built worldwide, with 10,000 of them in the United States
International Habitat (www.habitat.org)
Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization which helps low-income people build their own homes. The philosophy of Habitat is that the economically disadvantaged need capital, not charity and co-workers, not caseworkers, in order to obtain a decent house in a decent community.
McLean County Habitat (www.habitatmclean.org/index.html)
The ISU campus chapter does most of its work with the McLean County chapter of Habitat.. In ten years they've built over 60 homes in Bloomington-Normal and the surrounding communities. On April 2, 1995, groundbreaking was started for the first home in the new 27-home Wojahn subdivision in Bloomington. The IWU\ISU Ernst home marked the completion of the subdivision on April 28, 2001. . Randy Timm and Bill Waller are in charge of construction. Tom Grinder is in charge of the McLean County chapter. He can be reached at 827-3931 for more information.
Illinois State Habitat
The Illinois State University chapter of Habitat for Humanity began construction of its first Collegiate Home on September 16, 1995 in the Wojahn subdivision in Bloomington. The home was built with and for the Caldwell Family, who moved in during May, 1996. The groundbreaking for the second Collegiate Home took place on September 7, 1996 for new homeowners Kim and Heather Wolfe. In 1997 the Ben and Linda Owens home was started, and was completed in May, 1998. Sharon Shult's new home was started on September 8, 1998 and was finished the next May. The Sanchez Family's home was started the following fall, and they moved in during the spring of 2000. The Ernst Family home was completed in April, 2001 and The Mack Family the next year and on April 26, 2003 we celebrated the houseblessing of Tita McNeill's new home. We are currently working on our ninth home with Walks the West Wind.
Donations to help pay for construction are sought from any friends and members of the ISU community. Volunteers are needed and greatly appreciated as well.
Illinois Wesleyan Habitat
Illinois Weslyan University also participates in the buliding of homes for Habitat for Humanity. Student volunteers attending Wesleyan work together with ISU student volunteers. The meeting times for Wesleyan volunteers are the same as for ISU's, as both groups of students work as one group to complete these homes.