Former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100, will be remembered by many for his humanitarian work as much as for his presidency.
In a statement in response to the news of Carter’s death, President Joe Biden described the 39th president and Nobel Peace Prize winner as an “extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.”
“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe,” Biden said.
After leaving the White House in January 1981, Carter, along with his wife Rosalyn Carter, formed the Carter Center, a nonprofit organization with the goal of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering. Some of the organization’s initiatives across 80 countries around the world, such as treating tropical diseases, advocating for human rights, conflict mediation, and human rights advocacy, were chronicled in Carter’s 2007 autobiography Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope.
Perhaps one of his most well-known post-White House commitments was his 35 years of service in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, an organization dedicated to building “decent and affordable housing” for those in need. The Carters, along with more than 100,000 other volunteers, worked together to build, renovate, or repair “more than 4,447 homes in 14 countries, all while raising awareness of the critical need for affordable housing,” according to the organization’s website.
“Carter] was certainly a humanitarian; he put politics aside once he left the White House and just did good for the common man,” Christine Panagopoulos, the COO of Trinity Habitat in Arlington, told CBS News. “The minute he lent his name to Habitat for Humanity we were on the map.”
Although the Carters advocated and fundraised for the organization, their commitment to the cause was most evident as they rolled up their sleeves to participate in the actual construction work, laying bricks, hammering, sawing, and painting. In 2014, Rosalyn and Jimmy Carter helped build or renovate 50 homes in the Dallas -Fort Worth area. At the time, Jimmy Carter was 90 years of age.
“He was there, he was swinging a hammer right alongside them; it was a week that we’ll never forget. He wasn’t out there to take pictures and he certainly wasn’t there to sign autographs, he was there to build a home,” Panagopoulos said.
“I think every human being has within himself or herself a desire to reach out to others and to share some of our blessings with those who are in need,” Jimmy Carter once said in an interview. “But it’s one of the most difficult things to do.
“What’s opened up that avenue for me and my wife and hundreds and thousands of others is Habitat for Humanity. It makes it easy for us to reach out and work side by side with the homeowner who’s never had a decent house, perhaps,” he said, adding, “I haven’t been on a Habitat project that I wasn’t thrilled and inspired, and wept.”
“Through the years, [Carter] slept in tents on Habitat build sites, worked in the heat and cold, took photos with volunteers in torrential downpours, and his spirit never faltered. I am grateful for his example and for his longstanding commitment to Habitat,” said Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford. “We will miss him terribly.”
“And yet, the seeds he sowed while he was alive — seeds of awareness, of dedication and compassion — have only just begun to bear fruit,” Reckford added. “The leadership he invested in Habitat for so many years does not end here. It will simply continue to flourish, not only in the changed lives of the families with whom we partner, but in the changed hearts of all of us who build.”