The idea of building houses with the needy at no profit and no interest was first developed by Millard Fuller and the late Clarence Jordan in 1968 at the Koinonia community in Georgia. From 1973 to 1976 Millard Fuller and his family put the principles of Habitat to work in Zaire in Central Africa, building hundreds of houses there. In 1976, the Fullers returned to the Untied States, and Habitat for Humanity was formed.

Since 1976, Habitat has expanded to more than 1300 towns and cities in the United States, Canada, and 57 other countries around the world. Today over 100,000 Habitat houses have been built.