This President's Day, many people are thinking of former President Jimmy Carter, who is at home receiving hospice care.
The 98-year-old decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family instead of receiving additional medical treatment. The Carter family has asked for privacy and is grateful for the concern shown by so many.
Just a few years after his presidency, in 1984, he and former first lady Rosalynn Carter formed a longstanding partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Even into his 90s, the former president was on the ground, volunteering for the organization.
Former St. Paul Mayor, Chris Coleman, is president and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.
"He had a pretty good second act," Coleman said of Carter's 35-year involvement with the international organization.
Coleman says he had the honor of meeting Mr. Carter in 2010 when he flew in to help build homes in North Minneapolis and East Side St. Paul.
"He was there to work," Coleman said. "He wasn't there for photo ops or anything else."
Through the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, the Carters personally worked alongside 104,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate, and repair 4,390 homes.
"Here he is, he is well into his 90s and he is still out there sawing, hammering," Coleman said. "So when people would say, 'Oh, I can't volunteer for Habitat,' I would say, 'If Jimmy Carter in his 90s could volunteer for Habitat, I think you can too.'"
The Carters continued to physically volunteer through 2019. This year's Carter Work Project will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, in October, where Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will work to build 20 single-family affordable homes across nine acres of land.
"That's a tradition that continues even though the Carters haven't been able to be apart of it, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks are now stepping into the place of Jimmy and Rosalynn," Coleman said.
Meanwhile, Coleman says Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity plans to build or renovate about 65 homes this year.
"When we can get a family into homeownership, that changes that family for generations," Coleman said. "The fact that the Carters put their own name and attached their own legacy … it was incredibly important and it's why we have such a stellar reputation across the globe."