The possibility of utilizing the Fund for Humanity to address housing needs in the United States on a broader scale began in San Antonio, Texas, in 1976. Concerned residents worked with Fuller to develop a program similar to that in Zaire, using volunteer labor to construct affordable, safe houses for needy families in San Antonio's slums. Soon the idea took hold in Appalachia, and by 1981, just five years from its inception, Habitat for Humanity had affiliates in fourteen states and seven foreign countries.