THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE APPEARED IN THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES EDITORIAL SECTION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2005.

Re:  Column by Philip Gailey, Feb 20, 2005 "Habitat Wrongs a Good Man"

I can certainly understand why Mr. Gailey would be upset about the recent events at Habitat for Humanity, International, especially since he has known Millard Fuller for 40 years.  I have known him for 12 years and I also greatly respect his vision of a better world.

I would like to make several points:

1)       Pinellas Habitat for Humanity was not involved in the firing of Millard and Linda Fuller nor were we consulted on the issue. 

2)       We are separately incorporated from Habitat for Humanity International. 

3)       We will continue to honor Mr. Fuller’s legacy and vision to our organization and the community by carrying on the mission of eliminating substandard housing and making home ownership a possibility for those who otherwise would not be able to purchase a home. 

4)       Locally, none of us feel that we have enough personal information about the situation to make any kind of judgment on the action taken by the Habitat International board.  We wish, however, that none of this had taken place.  For many of us, it is hard to imagine Habitat for Humanity without Millard Fuller.

Therefore, there is effectively an arms-length distance between Habitat International and the affiliates.  Our mission to build a better Pinellas County has the potential to be impacted by what was written, as readers may “paint us with the same brush” with which Mr. Gailey has painted Habitat International. 

Barbara Inman
Executive Director