History – Timeline & Milestones (2009-2013)
2009
January: First Covenant Partners Conference held in Suffolk, Va.
February 3: Millard Fuller dies unexpectedly. Buried in unmarked grave at Koinonia near Clarence Jordan’s grave site in accordance with his wishes.
February 4: Ad hoc meeting of FCH board held at Fuller home following burial. It was strongly affirmed to continue FCH and tentatively appointed David Snell as new president.
March 15: Millard Fuller Memorial Celebration held at New Ebenezer Church in Atlanta. FCH board officially affirms David Snell as new president of FCH.
April: Faith Fuller becomes new VP of Communications for FCH. Linda Fuller becomes fully engaged with carrying on the mission of the Fuller Center.
July 10-August 16: 1,300-mile BIKE ADVENTURE (Benton Harbor, Mich. to Florida Gulf Coast) led by FCH Director of Special Programs Ryan Iafigliola with goals to raise awareness about the FCH as well as $200,000.
August 30: Millard Fuller Legacy Build Kick-off Celebration held at Community Center SportsPlex in Lanett, Ala. with President Jimmy Carter and Morris Dees as keynote speakers.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4: Inaugural Millard Fuller Legacy Build, Lanett, Ala. and West Point, Ga.
2010
January: Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Fuller Center announces intention of building $3,000 homes.
February 3: Remembering Millard events held in honor of Millard Fuller one year after his death, including Fuller Center staff build day in Americus, Ga.
March 15-27: More than 100 volunteers gathered at three covenant partner locations in Louisiana to work on five new homes at 5th Anniversary Build.
June 20-August 8: 3rd annual Bike Adventure from Niagara Falls to New Orleans raises $136,000.
Sept. 3-11: 2nd annual Millard Fuller Legacy Build held in Indianapolis, Ind.
2011
January: Ginger Ford Habitat for Humanity and The Northshore Fuller Center for Housing merge under The Fuller Center for Housing umbrella as the Ginger Ford Northshore Fuller Center for Housing.
March: Louisville Fuller Center hosts the Derby City Build, renovating and building five homes to start a major revitalization of the Shawnee neighborhood on the West End — a project that continues to thrive today.
April 2: In an emotional homecoming, Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Himan, is handed the keys to a home refurbished by the Northern Virginia Fuller Center for Housing, a home that is completely accessible for the wheelchair-bound veteran who was injured while serving in Afghanistan. The event garners national coverage from Fox News.
June: Faith Fuller, daughter of Millard and Linda Fuller, steps down after a longer-than-expected stint as Vice President of Communications, excitedly turning over the reins to veteran newspaper journalist and writer Chris Johnson, who continues to write a weekly humor column for the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer.
The Fuller Center of Greater Atlanta puts 400 lawyers to work in a special project with Hands On Atlanta in the Lakewood Heights area.
August: A Fuller Center team, including David Snell, Ryan Iafigliola and Kirk Lyman-Barner, visit operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While there, the team sees some of the first houses built by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1973, when they launched the world’s affordable housing movement in what was then known as Zaire.
August 14: Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure ends in Washington, D.C., having pushed its four-year fundraising total to more than $500,000.
August 14: Glen Barton, Vice President for U.S. Field Operations, dies unexpectedly at the age of 61.
August 31: Kirk Lyman-Barner is named Director of U.S. Field Operations.
September 5-9: “Miracle on St. Paul Street” continues. Returning to the site of the 2010 Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Indianapolis, teams build two new homes and rehab two others.
October 17-21: Eight new homes are built and seven homes receive Greater Blessing repair work during the 2011 Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Minden, La.
December: A team of six men representing The Fuller Center for Housing visit the site of a proposed home-building and peace-building project in North Korea one week before the death of North Korean lead Kim Jong Il. Fuller Center President David Snell puts a hold on work in North Korea until the situation is deemed stable and ready for work to proceed.
New covenant partner added in Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, joining Fuller Center’s other DRC partner, Bolomba.
2012
January: Fuller Center launches Save a House/Make a Home initiative to take foreclosed homes deemed “toxic assets” by banks and turn them into homes for families. It’s an initiative that benefits families, banks, communities and the housing market itself.
After years of working in Kankad, Nepal, The Fuller Center dedicates its first home in Trishuli, Nepal.
March: Global Builders program hits 1,000-participant milestone during work trip to Haiti. The nonprofit One Small House partners with The Fuller Center to build first of three new duplexes in Lambi community during trip.
March 11-17: Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure holds its first-ever spring ride, a 400-mile trek down The Natchez Trace Parkway from Nashville, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss.
June: Work begins on the Katy Build in Bossier City, La. The new home build by Asbury United Methodist Church through the Fuller Center of Northwest Louisiana honors a service-minded 16-year-old who was killed in a 2006 car crash.
East Coast leg of 2012 Bicycle Adventure, from Saco, Maine, to Key West, Florida.
July: Mercer Service Scholars make first-ever Global Builders trip to India.
July 29: 100th birthday of Clarence Jordan, the Christian theologian and Koinonia Farm founder who inspired Millard Fuller to launch the Partnership Housing movement.
Bicycle Adventure’s West Coast leg of ride begins in Seattle.
August: Bicycle Adventure’s West Coast ride ends in San Diego.
Fuller Center of Armenia hits 200-house milestone.
September: 2012 Millard Fuller Legacy Build takes place over two weeks in two locations — La Florida, Peru and McDonough, Ga.
October: Team from Singapore completes first-ever Global Builders trip to Nepal.
November: “Fuller Living” becomes first e-book published by Fuller Center. The book edited by President David Snell and Director of Communications Chris Johnson is a collection of 20 inspirational success stories with all proceeds benefiting The Fuller Center for Housing. Click here to order.
Best-selling Christian author and prominent Red-Letter theologian Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way, brings Fuller Center to Philadelphia with the Simple Homes Fuller Center for Housing.
December: Roger Waters, formerly of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame supergroup Pink Floyd, donates $300,000 to build four new Fuller Center homes for veterans in Shreveport in what will become known as the Veterans Build.
2013
March: Bicycle Adventure has second annual, weeklong Spring Ride down Natchez Trace.
First Global Builders trip to Nicaragua a big success.
April: Multi-Grammy-winner John Mayer shows up with a few lucky contest-winning fans to volunteer at Veterans Build in Shreveport.
April 28-May 2: More than 20 homes repaired during the 2013 Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Atlantic City, N.J.
June: Four Veterans Build houses funded primarily by a $300,000 donation from former Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters are dedicated in Shreveport, La.
3,700-mile Bicycle Adventure launches in Savannah, Ga., en route to Vancouver, Canada.
Ginger Ford Northshore hosts 170 youths from World Changers, who tackle 16 repair projects in a single week.
August: Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure completes its 3,700-mile ride from Savannah to Vancouver, B.C., marking the first time the Bicycle Adventure has trekked out of the country.
The Mercer University women’s basketball team completes a groundbreaking first Global Builders trip to Ghana. Director of Communications Chris Johnson joins them in Africa and documents the final week of the journey in a special report with photos, video and story.
September: Fuller Center surpasses 100-house mark in Haiti and finishes the month with a total of 110 new homes in Haiti built since the 2010 earthquake. Read more.
The Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia opens the Millard and Linda Fuller papers and Fuller Center for Housing records for public viewing and research. They are now open for research from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, you can call the library at 706-542-7123.