Habitat for Humanity International is marking its 50th anniversary this year by bringing the Carter Work Project back to Atlanta, the state where the organization was born.
"How appropriate for our 50th year to come back to Atlanta, as we were born in Georgia," said Jonathan Reckford, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. "Obviously there's no replacing President and Mrs. Carter, and so there's a bittersweet aspect. But we know the best way to honor the remarkable legacy of the Carters is to keep the work going."
The last time the Carter Work Project took place in Atlanta was 1988, when Andrew Young was mayor. That year, the Carters helped build 21 Habitat homes in the Edgewood neighborhood. The first Carter Work Project was in 1984, when Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter rode a Trailways bus to New York City to rehabilitate a tenement building.
Rosalynn Carter died in November 2023, and former President Carter passed away in December 2024 at age 100. Their combined decades of hands-on building with Habitat helped put the organization on the global map.
The return to Atlanta connects the organization's past and present, honoring the Carters' legacy in the city that shaped so much of their public life and Habitat's identity.