Carter Work Project Underway In Michiana
Sunday, Aug. 26, marked the official opening ceremony for Habitat for Humanity’s 2018 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, which will see 41 homes in the South Bend and Mishawaka area be built, renovated or repaired. The flurry of activity — particularly during the big build week from Aug. 27-31 — will spotlight the need for affordable housing not only in the South Bend-Mishawaka area, but across the nation and world.
Both Jim Williams, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County, and Jonathan T.M. Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, spoke at the event, which took place in Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion, and highlighted Habitat for Humanity’s impact worldwide, how the Carters’ involvement has furthered the nonprofit’s reach and how the project came to Indiana.
As for the latter, a major factor was LeRoy Troyer, who has worked with the Carters as a house boss for 33 years, with former President Jimmy Carter stating he is “the best volunteer we’ve ever had.” Amish-born, Troyer is the founder of a Mishawaka architectural firm and has served on Habitat’s international board.
“A couple years ago Jim and LeRoy said at the Carter Project in Memphis ‘could we sit down and talk,’” Reckford recalled. “They said we’d like to host the Carter Project. I paused and said, ‘You have no idea what you are asking.’”
Reckford noted the Carter Build is like any other Habitat build that occurs across the world “only bigger and more complicated” with thousands of volunteers needing managed.
“This will actually be one of the smaller populations that’s ever hosted this project,” Reckford said. “It’s an audacious undertaking — but you did it. We’re so glad and so excited to be here.”
Benito Salazar, his wife, Jhunixa, and their two children are one of the families that will be impacted. Salazar noted how his family’s apartment grew cramped as their family grew and how they applied to Habitat to realize their dream to be homeowners. He also shared how his family and the other families have learned through the process and enjoyed “meeting and speaking with their future neighbors.”
Homeowners are not given the homes, rather they need to put in “sweat equity” by working alongside volunteers, and then they pay an affordable, no-interest mortgage.
Surprise guest David Letterman shared his own experience with Habitat for Humanity, which began following Hurricane Katrina when the late night host sponsored two homes and gathered his friends to help frame them. He has continued to sponsor homes and volunteer over the years.
“It was the hardest work my friends and I had ever done, and I loved every minute of it,” said Letterman.
Letterman introduced the Carters, noting, “I wouldn’t know to call Habitat if it was not for Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter.”
The South Bend-Mishawaka project marks the 35th Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. Since the Carters participated in their first Habitat building project in New York City in September 1984/July 1985, 13.2 million people worldwide have been impacted by Habitat, with a family getting a new or approved home somewhere in the world every 50 seconds.
“Habitat is not a sacrifice,” Carter said. “We sometimes get too hot, we sometimes get too cold, we sometimes work overtime, but every time we’ve ever been out as volunteers, leading a project no matter where in this country or around the world, at the end of the Habitat project, we always feel that Rosalynn and I got more out of it than we put into it.
“It’s been a great blessing to us.”