Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter's Habitat Legacy

As we rapidly approach the 2024 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project taking place right here in the Twin Cities, we're taking a moment to focus on the people who started this remarkable annual tradition: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.

A Habitat Build in New York Leads to a Global Impact

It was 1984. The Carters were in New York City when Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, asked them to visit a Habitat build site. They were so inspired that they organized a bus of volunteers to serve for a week that fall. Jimmy picked up a hammer and got right to work helping to renovate the 19-unit building. Rosalynn, who had only planned on helping with lunch, soon found herself ripping up flooring. Like so many Habitat volunteers around the world, the Carters were hooked.

The Carters returned to New York the following year with more volunteers to help finish the renovation work—and the annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project was born. And it quickly grew to become a global phenomenon.

The impact is astounding. Since 1984, the Carter Work Project has traveled to 14 countries, enlisted the help of 106,100 volunteers, and helped build 4,417 homes. Check out the Building with the Carters video below by Habitat for Humanity International to get a sense of the Carters' global legacy with Habitat.

An Early Visit to the Twin Cities

In 1985, one year after the Carters first got involved with Habitat, local volunteers created Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. The affiliate began with chapters in church basements across the metro. By 1986, Twin Cities Habitat had completed its first home—read about the first Twin Cities Habitat homeowner, Lily.

Twin Cities Habitat started slow but soon began to grow. And in 1990, a very special visitor brought more local attention to the fledgling Twin Cities affiliate: former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. 

Rosalynn Carter was at a Habitat build site in St. Paul on Friday, September 14, 1990, to celebrate two grants from St. Paul companies. The grants were helping kickstart Twin Cities Habitat's "St. Paul Initiative" to strengthen homebuilding activity in St. Paul. Rosalynn pounded the first nail into the first wall raised on the project. 

"Habitat is the most wonderful organization I know of," Rosalynn said. "It gives you the chance to live your faith in a very real and tangible way." She encouraged people of all faiths and skill levels to volunteer with Habitat and had a lengthy visit with the future homeowners. Little did she know, Rosalynn would be back in St. Paul almost exactly 20 years later for the 2010 Carter Work Project.

Check out the 1990 Habitat Herald newsletter that documents Rosalynn Carter's visit to the Twin Cities >

2010 Carter Work Project

The 27th annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project took place in 2010 at four metro areas concurrently:

• Washington, D.C.
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Twin Cities, Minnesota

During the week, volunteers built 86 homes across the four locations in honor of Jimmy Carter's 86th birthday. In Minnesota, volunteers built, renovated, or repaired 14 homes on the East Side of St. Paul and 12 homes in North Minneapolis. While in Minneapolis, Jimmy Carter had a warm reunion with his former Vice President and Minnesotan Walter Mondale. 

The Carters left a strong impression on everyone who interacted with them that week. Tony Beckstrom, who was the Site Supervisor at the home Jimmy and Rosalynn worked on in Minneapolis (and who will still be a Site Supervisor for the 2024 Carter Work Project!) remembers Jimmy Carter: “He was absolutely the sweetest, kindest man I’ve ever met in my life. What comes through on television – that’s him. He was just the coolest guy. Pure good intentions and no hidden agenda.”

Read more staff reflections from the 2010 Carter Work Project >

But no one has fonder memories of the Carter Work Project than the Habitat homeowners who built, renovated, or repaired their homes alongside the Carters. Here are just a few of those memories:

Melo remembers showing up to her build site and seeing dozens of photographers and media ready for the President's arrival. Before she knew it, President Carter was building alongside her! Melo now calls her home "the most famous home in Minneapolis." Read Melo's story >

Dannie Mae had actually met Jimmy Carter years before while she was in nursing school in Georgia. She loved being able to reconnect with President Carter when he came to help paint her home during the 2010 Carter Work Project. Read Dannie Mae's story >

The legacy that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have created right here in the Twin Cities is profound. And their global impact on expanding access to safe, stable, and affordable homeownership is mind-boggling.  We're inspired by Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter – Habitat's greatest humanitarians – and we look forward to carrying on their legacy at the 2024 Carter Work Project and beyond.