One former president, one former first lady, three country music stars and 21 future Habitat for Humanity homeowners are swinging hammers and raising walls for new homes in Nashville. The weeklong 36th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project is underway in the Music City.
Building alongside hundreds of other volunteers, the former president and first lady will help construct 21 new Habitat for Humanity homes throughout the week. Despite a fall at his home that required stitches, President Carter continued with his plans to travel to Nashville and help build the homes, reports People. An additional 12 new single-family homes and 26 new townhomes will be constructed by 2021 with support of funding raised for the project. In total, funds raised through the 2019 Carter Work Project will serve 59 Nashville families.
“I continue to be in awe of the humble determination that President and Mrs. Carter display through their service,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “Their work has inspired countless people to join Habitat in our mission to build a world where everyone has a safe, decent and affordable place to live. All of us—from the families they’re working alongside in Nashville, to the millions who have been inspired by their good works —owe President and Mrs. Carter our thanks.”
The Carters were warmly welcomed to Nashville by Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, who are building at the Carter Work Project for their 12th year. They first volunteered together with Habitat in 2007 in New Orleans to help build post-Katrina Habitat homes on the Gulf Coast, and since then, have lent their names and support to numerous Habitat events and projects. Along with the Carters, Yearwood and Brooks were recognized as Habitat Humanitarians in 2016.
Fellow Nashville resident and country music star Eric Paslay is also joining for his third Carter Work Project, along with his wife Natalie. They have also supported Habitat’s Home is the Key cause campaign.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, First Lady Maria Lee and Nashville Mayor John Cooper also welcomed the Carters and other volunteers to the Music City.
Since beginning their work with Habitat for Humanity in 1984, just years after leaving the White House, President and Mrs. Carter have helped to build, renovate and repair 4,331 homes in 14 countries alongside more than 103,000 volunteers. Since Habitat’s founding in 1976, the nonprofit housing organization has served more than 22 million people around the world.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville, which is hosting the project this year, serves Davidson, Dickson, Cheatham and Wilson counties in Tennessee. The organization has built or recycled more than 1,185 homes in the greater Nashville area since its establishment in 1985.
Monday morning, President Carter was on the job site working alongside his wife, Mrs. Carter.
Former President Jimmy Carter, 95, fell and hit his head at home yesterday while he was getting ready for church. 14 stitches and one day later, he’s building corbels for 21 @Habitat_org homes in Nashville. Mrs. Carter, 92, is painting them. https://t.co/SPYvo81S6S pic.twitter.com/kLtx1BRdUt
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) October 7, 2019
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