Winnipeggers remember how Jimmy Carter helped build Habitat for Humanity homes in city

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100, is being remembered for his help in giving several Winnipeggers a home to call their own.

Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who died in 2023, visited the city twice during their lifetime to participate in major homebuilding projects for Habitat for Humanity, an organization the former president and first lady have long been associated with.

“Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter really were wonderful advocates, ambassadors, and workers for Habitat for Humanity around the world,” said Jamie Hall, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. “They built homes in over 14 countries around the world.”

Habitat for Humanity was created in 1973 in Americus, Georgia, roughly 20 kilometres east of the Carters’ hometown of Plains. Volunteers help build homes for low-income people who might struggle to purchase homes of their own. Families receiving a Habitat home must put in 500 hours of “sweat equity” by building homes or volunteering for Habitat in their ReStore program.

Habitat for Humanity came to Canada in 1985, and spread to Manitoba in 1987.

The Carters participated in a large build in the summer of 1993 in Winnipeg’s Point Douglas and returned to the city in July 2017 for another project in St. James.

“He was just inspiring, inspiring because he's famous and everybody knows him, but also the stories that I heard of his humility and his willingness just to roll up his sleeves and work,” Hall said, adding that many volunteers were eager to work with the Carters during the 2017 build.

Among those working in St. James was Teberh Zeru, who now owns the home she helped build. She was able to meet the Carters during the build.

“They were very kind people,” she said.

Zeru said because of the Carters and Habitat, she and her family are able to have a home of their own.

“Because of them, (we are) very comfortable,” she said. “We are able to manage our life with our kid, and we are living happily ever (after).”

During the build, Jimmy, who was 92 at the time, was briefly hospitalized for dehydration on July 13 while working with volunteers at a major project in St. James.

He was discharged a day later and returned to the project.

In September 2017, Carter told college students in Atlanta that his experience in Winnipeg helped reinforce his support for a single-payer health-care system in the United States.

Watch the video above for highlights of Carter’s visits to Winnipeg with Habitat for Humanity.

Hall noted that since 1987, more than 500 Habitat for Humanity homes have been built in Manitoba.

-With files from CTV’s Michelle Gerwing, Danton Unger and The Canadian Press