A closer look at how Fuller Center homeowners build equity—and fast

Editor’s note: “How we build a better world” is a regular series of articles featuring a closer look at the methods and principles of enlightened charity that make our affordable housing ministry work so effectively.

Our spiritual founder, Clarence Jordan, wrote that, “What the poor need isn’t charity but capital, not social workers but co-workers.” That simple sentence guided Millard Fuller’s housing ministry and guides The Fuller Center for Housing to this day.

It’s the first part of Clarence’s statement that’s the focus of our new “How we build a better world” series. The first topic: equity. Fuller Center homeowners build equity in their homes much faster than most people do through traditional, interest-bearing mortgages.

There is an occasional misconception that The Fuller Center gives away homes—for free. Those who are familiar with our work certainly know differently. Fuller Center homeowners repay the costs of construction through zero-percent-interest, no-profit-made mortgages with the repayments staying in their local community to help others get the very same hand-UP into simple, decent housing.

Because there is no interest charged, these monthly payments are far more affordable than terms from traditional lenders. Even with insurance and taxes included in these monthly payments, they are almost always less than one would pay for a one-bedroom apartment.

The primary reason we don’t charge interest is a simple, faith-based one—because the Bible tells us not to in Exodus 22:25: “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.” (NKJV)

The image above is from the 2012 home dedication for Navy veteran Charles Brown and his wife Vernita in Bossier City, Louisiana. They had risen from the depths of misery and despair, barely surviving depression, addiction, homelessness and incarceration before rebuilding their lives and then building a home. “We’re supposed to be dead,” is how Vernita Brown put it at the time.

Because they paid no interest on the home, they built equity fast. While traditional mortgages are usually front-loaded with interest, equity builds more slowly. The Browns, though, paid down the principal so quickly that they were able to fully pay off the mortgage just seven years later. They and The Fuller Center of Northwest Louisiana celebrated with a mortgage burning ceremony—literally going up in flames amid clapping, cheers, and tears.

Sadly, Charles has since passed away, and Vernita sold the home back to The Fuller Center of Northwest Louisiana. Another deserving Fuller Center homeowner partner now lives in this symbol of hope in Bossier City. Charles felt blessed to live out the remainder of his days with the security of fully owning his home. He also took pride in the fact that the local VA hospital used his story of recovery and redemption to underscore a powerful message: No person is beyond hope, and no situation is insurmountable.

Per Clarence Jordan’s vision, Fuller Center homeowners truly understand the power of capital as they quickly build equity in their simple, decent homes.