Building Together, a self-help and mutual-aid housing project, was founded by Angel, together with a Thai colleague, in 1978. They acquired a plot of land with international donor funds, planned the site with 60-square-meter plots, created its infrastructure, and recruited 200 families from the informal settlements of Bangkok to build their two-story houses together in ten clusters of 20 families each. Houses were built from modular concrete elements produced by the people in an on-site factory. Each group built a cluster of 20 houses together and then allocated the houses to members by lottery. Members then finished the house interiors and facades by themselves. Families worked evenings and weekends for ten months to complete the basic houses, putting in some 1,800 hours of work. All received mortgage loans from the Government Housing Bank. The Building Together project is still a prime example of blending together three vital societal goals: creating shelter, building community, and the empowerment of the poor to take charge of their lives.