Millard Fuller Legacy Build 2011: Meet construction supervisor Bill Moriarty

Behind the scenes of the Millard Fuller Legacy Build, key leaders are already busy organizing and planning to ensure the upcoming weeklong event is a success.

Construction supervisor Bill Moriarty is just one such leader.

“My responsibilities and duties here are to make sure that all materials are on the job, that everything is ordered and we have everything necessary to complete eight houses and eight rehabs,” said Moriarty, who is a retired contractor. “All the puzzle pieces need to be in place.”

Volunteers at the upcoming Millard Fuller Legacy Build will become well acquainted with Moriarty and his wife, France, who Moriarty calls the “love of my life and right hand.”

“She helps coordinate volunteers, leads the siding crew, helps with quality control … it’s not any one thing, it’s pretty much everything,” he said.

Together, they’ve been volunteering since 1999, starting out with two-week stints with Habitat for Humanity.

“After awhile we prayed about it, and asked God to use all of our skills, all of our talents,” Moriarty said.

So 10 years ago, they decided to take to the road in their RV and make volunteer service their lifestyle and mission. Now the couple travels by RV for builds around the nation, gravitating especially toward areas in need of disaster relief.
Moriarty said their experiences have been a spiritually strengthening experience.

“If people feel like they have a disconnect from God … a way to get passionate about God is to get off your derrière and do something. You have to move, you have to be proactive … the best way to do that is to volunteer,” he said. “It’s not all about construction – it’s about serving and relationships. You can actually see God working through people on the job site.”

Since they started volunteering, they’ve helped build more than 600 homes and worked with well over 10,000 volunteers in different capacities.

Within the next two or three weeks, they’ll be moving their RV onto the construction site of the Legacy Build. Moriarty said to prepare for the blitz build he’s already started re-drawing plans for house leaders, gone to the warehouse for prefabricated walls, met with a cabinet company and met with homeowners to clarify scope of the build, among other activities.

After the build is finished, they’ll be moving on to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri, to serve communities in need there.

“We’ve been blessed. It’s our way of giving back. We believe God has a way of giving back,” he said. “We do it because we’re good at it, and we do it because we enjoy it.”

Stay tuned for more behind the scenes stories on the construction leaders and teams of the Millard Fuller Legacy Build!

Learn more about the 2011 Millard Fuller Legacy Build
Check out The Fuller Center’s RV Builders volunteer program