The last time I was home sick, I curled up on my couch with a cup of tea and turned on the TV. That's when I came upon a documentary about Leisurama. If you have no idea what Leisurama is, then let me tell you that it was an almost perfect melding of forward-thinking, marketing and design -- and a true experiment in affordable housing. The industrial designer and architect Raymond Loewy was asked to design homes in a planned community out in Montauk, Long Island. The houses would be fully furnished (all you had to do was move in) AND you were able to buy them on the ninth floor of Macy's Herald Square. Some models sold for $12,995! The year was 1964 and the inspiration came from our American way of life (summer vacations! bbqs! sun and surf!) Did I mention that it all started with a Cold-War debate between Khrushchev and Nixon? Ok, it isn't as dry as all that, it is actually quite funny. Take a look at this clip and see how the houses (and their owners) have withstood the test of time.

And you can buy your copy of Leisurama here.

Looking for a new home can sometimes be stressful. If have you have a disability and are searching for a new home to rent or buy, you have a whole host of rights to make it less so. Do you know what they are? HUD has a wonderful resource in the Fair and Equal Housing section of their website. You can find a great (and easy-to-read) article on Disability Rights in Housing there. There was so much I didn't know, but was glad to learn. If you are a landlord/homeowner there is also a Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST website which is "an initiative designed to promote compliance with the Fair Housing Act design and construction requirements" that will make it easy for you to keep our neighbors safe and secure.

It's always great to wrap up a great week with a great story. Today's great story is about Habitat Humanity. As many of you know, Habitat for Humanity's mission is to build safe and affordable housing for people in need around the country and across the globe. On Thursday, Board Chairman and former housing developer J. Ronald Terwilliger donated $100 million dollars to the organization. This is the single largest donation from an individual in Habitat for Humanity's history. As AP News reported, Habitat will use $30 million to fund an endowment that will make yearly grants to help build more houses. The remaining $70 million will set up a micro-finance fund to help low-income families around the world repair and improve their housing. It is projected that this donation will help Habitat build 60,000 homes around the globe. If the greatest gift is the one that makes a difference in many people's lives, then J. Ronald Terwilliger's recent gift is one of the greatest ones around.

You can read my previous post about Habitat for Humanity here, or visit their website to help.

One of my missions for Bright and Spacious is providing information and opportunities so you will feel inspired to give back to our community. I believe it is important for all of us who have comfortable homes that we call our own to give back to those who might not have shelter or adequate housing. There are many organizations that help those in need of housing. I believe in Millard Fuller's vision for Habitat for Humanity. And there are many, many more organizations that provide a foundation of help, housing, and community that I will be telling you more about as time goes on. Recently, my friend Alice Connorton, who is an actress here in New York City, told me about her experience as a volunteer for ACORN. Alice is an amazing and very generous person. She is also a huge fan of New Orleans . After Hurricane Katrina struck, she felt moved to give back to the city she loved so much. Alice worked with ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now,) which is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families which work together for social justice and stronger communities. I asked her some questions about her experience and here is what she said.

What did you do for ACORN?

I did some house-gutting in New Orleans under the auspices of ACORN. I was there for about a week in October of 2006, then again for a day in May of 2007 (since I was there for Jazzfest.) I worked on two houses in New Orleans East, one in the 8th Ward (we could see the hole the residents had had to bash in the roof in order to escape the flooding), one in the Upper 9th Ward where the owner greeted us upon arrival -- he'd been working on his home like crazy himself; also one in Gentilly, and one in the Lower 9th Ward.

This beautiful home was once a trailer. That's right, a trailer as in from a trailer park. Hard to believe, right? But it is true. My friend Brett over at AOL Real Estate sent me the link from the blog Little Diggs, which is all about smaller homes (meaning 500 square foot or less.) Michael Hughes, an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Arkansas, began this project along with a team of faculty members, researchers, and more than forty students when he was working at the University of Colorado. This team created TrailerWrap, which is collaborative design project that is concerned with sustainable and affordable design in the context of one of the most American of all real estate traditions, the trailer park. Intriqued by the design possibility of trailers, Professor Hughes described his project as a "wonderful small house that just happens to be on a mobile home chassis." I would heartily agree -- and do the folks over at ACSA who awarded Professor Hughes and his team the 2008 - 2009 Collaborative Practice Award.

There is ingenuity in the air in the Dallas, Texas housing market. Our economy has caused an interesting turn of events there that will benefit the community and create affordable downtown housing for at least 140 families. Currently, the 12-story Plaza Hotel near Interstate 30 in Dallas is sitting vacant. The owner, Hamilton Properties Corp. had hoped to redo the property as a boutique hotel. But when they couldn't get financing, they approached Central Dallas Ministries about buying the building for affordable housing. After some community concern that was then addressed, the Dallas City Council endorsed the proposed conversion. The rents for the affordable housing would range from $349 a month for efficiencies to $898 for two-bedroom units. The annual income limits for individual renters would range from about $14,000 to $28,000. There are more hurdles to come, but the first step for actual affordable city housing for working-class families in Dallas has been taken.

Do you know that there are many new ways of making your housing affordable? In response to our current housing crisis and the resulting economic fallout, the Obama administration has created new initiatives to help you refinance or modify your home loans. Not sure if you qualify? Or want to know how? That part is very easy. The folks over at AOL Real Estate have mapped out the information you need to know about these initiatives and how to get started on their Making Homes Affordable area. Not only do they explain your options, but they also give you access to a wide variety of other invaluable resources. You'll find everything you need to get you on your way to living in an affordable home.

I was talking to one of my colleagues about affordable housing and he mentioned HUD to me. I didn't know much about what services the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offered or what their online presence would be like. What I discovered is their website is a veritable hub of information. Need up-to-the-minute information on the President's strategy to help millions of families restructure or refinance their mortgages to avoid foreclosure, then click here. Want to find a home for sale from HUD or other federal agencies, then click here. How about if you need to talk to a housing counselor, then click here. There's a library, webcasts or you can sign up for their mailing list. It's easy to access everything you need to know about housing both across the nation and for your state – all the info is conveniently located under HUD's roof.

Habitat for Humanity International was founded in 1976 in Americus, Georgia by Millard and Linda Fuller. Millard Fuller then led the organization for 29 years inspiring thousands to participate in creating affordable housing around the globe. This morning, Millard Fuller passed away. His visionary work in the field of affordable housing, however, lives on through the continuing work of Habitat for Humanity. As Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International says on the memorial on their website: "Millard Fuller was a force of nature who turned a simple idea into an international organization that has helped more than 300,000 families move from deplorable housing into simple, decent homes they helped build and can afford to buy and live in."

In honor of Millard Fuller's memory and his vision for affordable housing around the globe, here are the ten things that you can do to help create safe, decent and affordable housing.