Habitat for Humanity gets $100M gift

Atlanta businessman J. Ronald Terwilliger got rich building houses for others, and he plans to spread the wealth. He promised $100 million Thursday to Habitat for Humanity International.

“It’s the largest financial commitment from an individual in Habitat’s history,” said Duane Bates, the nonprofit’s director of public relations.

Habitat for Humanity / AP

This Oct. 6, 2008 photo released by Habitat for Humanity International shows J. Ronald Terwilliger of Atlanta working on a Habitat for Humanity project in Nshavan, Armenia. The housing market may be sputtering, but Habitat for Humanity International is getting a $100 million gift from Terwilliger, a former chief executive of housing developer Trammell Crow Residential Co. and a longtime member of Habitat’s board of directors, who said his work has offered him a look at the struggle of poor people to find decent housing.

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The gift will pass to Habitat at Terwilliger’s death. He is 68.

Terwilliger is committed to housing for working people. He has given gifts of $5 million each to two other nonprofits dealing with housing and served on Mayor Shirley Franklin’s Workforce Housing Task Force. He has been on Habitat International’s board since 2000, and is chairman.

“It’s frustrating to me that housing, which is one of the basic human needs and is important for families to have healthy and well-educated children, is down the list to what is worthy on the minds of some,” he said.

Bates said $70 million will fund micro-loans in Habitat’s overseas work. For instance, a family might seek a modest loan to pour concrete in their dirt-floor home. And $30 million will go toward an endowment, which will donate proceeds yearly to the nonprofit.

Terwilliger made his fortune with Trammell Crow Residential, one of the nation’s largest developers of apartments and condos. He also owns the Atlanta Dream, a women’s pro basketball team.

He said his fortune has shrunk in the economy, but he believes it will be large enough to make good on his promise, though “I hope to live another 20 years.”