Hundreds of Volunteers Spending Labor Day Vacation Building Homes for Low-Income Families as Part of Worldwide Housing Event

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Sep 03, 2010, 07:40 ET

ATLANTA, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Millard Fuller Legacy Build is bringing together hundreds of volunteers across America to use Labor Day as a day of service. Instead of grilling or heading to the beach this Labor Day weekend, more than 1,000 volunteers will be traveling with their tool belts to work projects that stem from Indianapolis to Nigeria.

Sept. 3 marks the beginning of the second annual Millard Fuller Legacy Build, a worldwide weeklong effort organized by the Fuller Center for Housing to help eliminate substandard housing.

The event -- named in honor of the late Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity and the Fuller Center for Housing -- will bring 300 of those volunteers to Indianapolis, the U.S. host city for this year's event. Volunteers will build or restore homes for 25 families all in the same neighborhood that for years has been stricken by crime and seen massive deterioration of homes.

This global build project will touch the hearts of families in 40 locations around the world where more than 100 homes will be built, repaired or dedicated during the week of Sept. 3-11.

"Over the next week, Fuller Center partners will be dedicating over 100 houses -- from our Legacy Build hub in Indianapolis, to places as distant as Idaho and Nepal," said David Snell, Fuller Center president. "This will be a great demonstration of our commitment to eliminating poverty housing one house at a time."

The build is well timed. The United States is seeing some of the worst foreclosure rates in every major city. In addition, the United Nations estimates more than 1 billion people worldwide live in urban slums, in need of safe, decent, affordable shelter.

The Legacy Build gives hope to those who cannot qualify for conventional home loans, or afford to purchase or renovate homes. In Atlanta, Ga., where homes are foreclosing at alarming rates, six home renovation projects will be dedicated on Sept. 11. In Lanett, Ala., two new homes will be dedicated for families who can't afford to pay interest on a loan. And in the Luvu Village, just outside of Abuja, Nigeria, at least two families will move into their new homes for the first time.

"I am grateful for the hundreds of ways Millard has been honored over his lifetime. However, I can tell you that what meant the most to him was a family moving from substandard housing to a decent home of their own," said Linda Fuller, Millard's wife of nearly 50 years.

About The Fuller Center

The Fuller Center for Housing is an ecumenical Christian non-profit started in 2005 by Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller as a way to continue his vision of a grassroots movement working to eliminate poverty housing worldwide. Visit http://www.FullerCenter.org for more information.