Raising roofs and breaking down barriers
Now in hospice, 39th president has touched local Habitat efforts
When Harvey Curley heard that the 39th President of the United States was due to arrive at any second on the construction site for Habitat for Humanity International’s Carter Project in Detroit, he began to look around.
“I was looking for a long black limousine,” said Curley. “It’s what we all expected and then all of a sudden what do we see but a golf cart coming down the street.”
It was Jimmy Carter. He arrived looking like every other volunteer who had offered to lend a hand in building someone a home.
“He welcomed everyone and said, ‘Thank you for coming.’ There was a brief prayer and then he said, ‘My wife, my daughter, my grandson and my daughter-in-law are all coming too, so put them to work.’”
That was the extent of the presidential hullabaloo.
After that, Curley and his wife, Carole, along with hundreds of other Michiganders, went to work building 30 homes in a Detroit neighborhood just west of Woodward Avenue. It was one of several Carter Projects completed in the summer of 2005. The Carter family also ventured across the U.S.-Canada border to help in the construction of homes in Windsor, Ontario, as well.
Curley remembers that as soon as he heard about the project he knew that it was something he could do, he should do. He was 68 at the time and had just retired as the mayor of Eastpointe. He was also a parishioner at Genesis The Church in Royal Oak, which was known as the First Baptist Church at the time. The church donated $10,000 toward the building project and anyone who wanted to volunteer was asked to pay $100 to help cover the cost of their work boots, helmet, gloves and other gear.
Curley was one of 15 who signed on.
It was a chance to help a community and to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The homes went up quickly, one reason being the walls were built ahead of time by the inmates at Ionia Correctional Facility.
“There were nearly 2,000 volunteers that day,” Curley said, remembering people from all walks of life working side-byside with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in support of the massive undertaking.
At one point while Curley was painting a wall, Carter went to work pounding nails on a door frame.
“That was fantastic,” Curley said. “We didn’t talk about politics. We did get personal about God and why he and his brother started the peanut farm.”
At one point, Rosalynn hollered to Carter, ‘Jimmy, why don’t you use the automatic hammer? You’ll do a faster job.’”
He just smiled and said, “Never mind, I’m doing just
fine.”
Curley had to laugh because when they came back after their break Carter was carrying the electric hammer.
“That was so sweet. It’s hard to believe that was 18 years ago,” Curley said, noting he and his wife recently returned to the neighborhood that they helped to build and every house looked like the day they built them.
“It was a beautiful sight to see,” said Curley, who has since returned to public service and is currently a council member in Eastpointe, following another example set by Carter who told him, “As long I’m able and as long as God gives me the strength to do this work I will to it. When it’s time to stop I’ll stop.”
This past week in the wake of the Carter Center’s announcement that the former president had decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention, Americans have been reflecting on what the former president’s work with Habitat has meant to the country.
Habitat International
How the Carters became involved is pretty simple.
They saw a need and offered their help.
This wonderful story of philanthropy — as told by many chapters of Habitat for Humanity — begins in September of 1984.
Three-years after completing his term as president (Jan. 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981) Carter was speaking at a church in New York City when he passed a Habitat for Humanity build site and stopped in to say hello. He was not new to the organization having volunteered with Habitat previously in Americus, Georgia, where Habitat was founded.
What he saw at this particular site was a shortage of volunteers.
“We need to bring some volunteers in to help,” Carter said, according to Habitat.
So he and the former first lady picked up a few dozen volunteers and showed up to help renovate a six-story apartment building that would serve as safe and affordable housing to 19 deserving families.
“We knew that we had undertaken a major and very enjoyable hobby on the side,” Carter said, in an article by People magazine in 2019. “We stayed busy doing other things, but we devoted 36 years to Habitat.”
That project he helped complete in New York during the fall of 1984 is now recognized as the first annual Carter Work Project. Since then, it has evolved into a week-long affair that takes place in a different location each year from American and Canadian cities such as
Detroit and Windsor to countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.
The numbers
President Carter and First Lady Rosalyn Carter have worked alongside:
• 104,000 volunteers
• Working in 14 countries
• Building and repairing 4,390 homes
• Serving anywhere from one single family to 300 families
“All of us at Habitat for Humanity are lifting up President and Mrs. Carter in prayer as he enters hospice care,” Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International said in a statement. “We pray for his comfort and for their peace, and that the Carter family experiences the joy of their relationships with each other and with God in this time.”
Impact on communities
In an interview with Habitat for Humanity International, Carter was asked why community service should be an important part of everyone’s life?
“A Habitat project in a deprived community inspires other property owners in the area to improve other homes and the general environment in the larger neighborhood. Dwellers there get the Habitat spirit of volunteering and helping each other. The Habitat homeowner’s family members participate in work on their own homes and are then inspired to help others,” Carter said. “Perhaps the most significant after effect is on the Habitat volunteers who join us in building projects, who almost unanimously agree that the personal benefits to their lives always exceed their own financial contributions, time and effort, and that this incentive lasts for years in the future, or for a lifetime.” He was right.
His spirit of volunteering and support of Habitat has led to the creation of more than 45 local affiliates including the Michigan Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which is the oldest Affiliate Support Organization in the Habitat for Humanity International network.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary Habitat for Humanity of Michigan has helped to
build 10,000 homes and since 2010, has impacted over 22,000 hardworking families through affiliate construction work, plus over 2,500 individuals in need through its unique direct housing counseling program.
“President Carter brought much needed attention to the housing crisis impacting the most vulnerable populations across the U.S.,” said John Williams, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan. “His leadership encouraged thousands to volunteer and help hardworking families have a safe, decent, affordable place to live.”
Macomb County Habitat for Humanity has also benefited from Carter’s support.
“I think it’s just amazing how much he elevated Habitat for Humanity,” said Mashell Carissimi, president and owner of JMC Electric and president of the Macomb Habitat Board of Directors. “I know he wasn’t the person who started it but he has been very involved in being a catalyst for others looking to support the mission.”
By supporting the mission to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build affordable housing, communities and hope and being this was important to a former president it became important to others.
The support of Habitat for Humanity in Macomb County has led to the construction of 150 homes, impacted 340 children, 203 adults and a dozen communities.
Among those who are living the dream of homeownership is Kewanna Shaw and her husband, Kalen, and two sons, Kingsley and Christopher.
“My family and I are eternally grateful for Jimmy Carter’s contributions to Macomb Habitat because we will become first time homebuyers,” said Kewanna Shaw. “I’m glad to be a part of an organization that really embodies their mission to bring communities together to help families build strength, stability and self reliance through shelter.”
“He’s one of us,” said Helen Hicks, president and CEO of Macomb Habitat, who had the opportunity to hear Carter speak and is among those leading efforts to honor him for his contributions to the organization.
“Today, every member of the board of directors, our staff, thousands of volunteers, hundreds of partner families and thousands of local donors come together to remember this great man,” Hicks said. “Though every person may have had a different perspective on his performance as president, everyone was on the same page when it came to his work for Habitat for Humanity. No one person, not even Habitat’s founders, Linda and Millard Fuller, have inspired us as much as Jimmy Carter.”
Charles Boayue Jr. concurred.
“President Carter’s work with Habitat for Humanity was one of the most important contributions he made to society. Housing and home ownership are among the most basic needs for families and president Carter’s advocacy and support for Habitat helped promote the idea of home ownership as a right for all human beings,” said Boayue, senior pastor for First United Methodist Church in Birmingham.
But Carter’s compassion for people was felt by more than just those seeking shelter.
Boayue, who was a high school student in West Africa and a college student in Liberia when Carter was president ,said he loves the fact Carter made respect for human rights a hallmark of his foreign policy.
“President Carter’s insistence that governments treat people right, to do business with the U.S. made a big difference around the world for oppressed people and led to freedom in many places,” Boayue said.
What other president has left the office and gone on to do so much good for so many.
“He was Sunday school teacher too,” Curley said, of Carter, who at age 98, is the longest living American president.
“Although presidents tend to cater to the political, economic and social concerns of their citizens, great presidents look for sustainable and long term answers to the problems,” Boayue said. “President Carter tried to help America to treat other nations as America would wish to be treated. His impact on the world is profound because his emphasis on human rights conveyed a more credible image of America to a hurting world. As a humanitarian he lived his values and promoted his faith through compassionate deeds.”
During his interview with Habitat for Humanity International the former president was asked what he would say to the next generation so that they might understand how service to others impacts our collective future?
“Enjoy your American freedom and utilize it to expand your own opportunities and God-given talents as much as possible,” he said. “You will find that these investments in helping others will always pay rich dividends.”