The concept that grew into Habitat for Humanity was born in the USA at Koinonia Farm, a small, interracial, Christian farming community. Koinonia Farm was founded in 1942 outside of Americus, Georgia, by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan and others to promote racial reconciliation.
Millard and his wife Linda first visited Koinonia in 1965, having recently left a successful business in Montgomery, Alabama, and all the trappings of an affluent lifestyle to begin a new life of Christian service. At Koinonia, Jordan and Fuller developed the concept of "partnership housing" where those in need of adequate shelter would work side by side with volunteers to build simple, decent houses.
The houses would be built with no profit added and no interest charged. Building would be financed by a revolving "Fund for Humanity". The fund's money would come from the new homeowners' house payments, donations and no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fund-raising activities. The monies in the Fund for Humanity would be used to build more houses.
An open letter to the friends of Koinonia Farm told of the new future for Koinonia:
"What the poor need is not charity, but capital, not caseworkers but co-workers. And what the rich need is a wise, honorable and just way of divesting themselves of their overabundance. The Fund for Humanity will meet both of these needs. Money for the fund will come from shared gifts by those who feel they have more than they need and from non-interest bearing loans from those who cannot afford to make a gift but who do want to provide working capital for the disinherited. . . The fund will give away no money. It is not a handout."
