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A local nonprofit housing organization has changed its national affiliation, a move its leaders said is intended to keep its its grassroots mission and money local.
The former Clark County Community Habitat for Humanity will now be known as the Clark County Fuller Center for Housing. The organization officially changed its name late last month, according to Executive Director Matt Wilson.
The programs will continue to be administered as they have in the past, Wilson said.
“They’re almost identical programs,” Wilson said. “As I’ve been telling everybody, we’re going to continue to be the same people, doing the same thing, the same way we have for 25 years in this community.”
Habitat for Humanity International was created in 1976 by Millard Fuller as a nonprofit Christian organization to build affordable homes for needy families. In 2005, Fuller branched out from Habitat to create the Fuller Center for Housing, which has a similar ministry.
As Habitat for Humanity has evolved over the past 40 years, the organization has grown a lot larger, Wilson said.
“The organization has taken on much more of what, in our opinion, is a much more corporate feel and has lost some of the Christian grassroots housing ministry aspect of it,” Wilson said. “That’s the foundation we started under here in Clark County 25 years ago.”
In 2013, Habitat for Humanity’s board of directors implemented a policy that asked affiliates to share in the expense of operating a national program that would also benefit their local organizations, according to an e-mail from Talia Moffitt, a spokeswoman for Habitat for Humanity International. The new fee pays for a small portion of the cost Habitat for Humanity International’s affiliate support network.
“We thank the former affiliate for their work addressing the affordable housing needs of Clark County and wish them well with their future endeavors,” Moffitt said.
The local housing board weighed the affiliation change for about two years, Board President Eric Sirons said.
“The mission doesn’t change,” he said. “We’re still there to provide decent, affordable housing for our partner families.”
They asked several community partners about the proposed change. The overwhelming response was to continue carrying out its mission in Clark County.
“The name wasn’t the most important part of that,” Wilson said.
They’ll also be able to keep fundraising money local, Wilson said. Fees have increased over the past few years for affiliation with Habitat for Humanity, Wilson said, which cost the organization about $7,500 per year.
“That money will be able to stay here and go toward helping families,” Wilson said.
The local Fuller Center board of directors is planning to educate the community about its new brand, Wilson said. The organization’s recycled materials and households store located at 259 S. Wittenberg Ave. will now be known as the Fuller Center ReUse Store.
The organization has built 57 homes for families in Clark County since it was established in 1990. It built 16 homes as part of the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and is still working to sell one of the homes, Wilson said.
The Fuller Center will begin construction on its first house in New Carlisle later this year.
The change won’t affect the organization’s relationship with the community, Springfield Community Development Director Shannon Meadows said.
“The city of Springfield looks forward to continuing to work with the newly named entity that will carry out the same work Habitat has done in the past,” Meadows said.
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