‘Jimmy’s home’: One woman shares Carter’s Habitat for Humanity legacy
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
ATLANTA - Madam Sally Mae Hollis says she is not the sole owner of the house in Atlanta she has lived in for the past 36 years, graciously telling visitors who stop by: “This is Jimmy’s home.”
That would be Mr Jimmy Carter, the former US president who in 1988, along with his wife Rosalynn, helped workers from Habitat for Humanity construct the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house where Madam Hollis, 86, has resided ever since.
Mr Carter, who died on Dec 29 at age 100, was an avid backer of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that has helped more than 59 million people build or repair homes in more than 70 countries. His Carter Centre worked on 4,447 homes in 14 counties, according to the centre’s website, with the former president himself swinging a hammer on many of them.
“He was so plain, just like everybody else,” Madam Hollis recalled on Dec 31 of Mr Carter when he assisted in constructing the porch of her home. “Jimmy cut the wood, and we finished it that day. That back porch lasted 30 years until I finally replaced it last month.”
As she thumbed through scrap books full of photos and newspaper clippings of the construction of her home, Madam Hollis pondered over Mr Carter’s legacy.
Madam Hollis’ Edgewood home is one of the homes built in the US through Habitat for Humanity with the help of former US president Jimmy Carter.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“It would be the grace of God if we can find another human like Jimmy Carter,” Madam Hollis said.
“The man he had love, he cared for people. And in this world, you got to know love. You got to have love... we are all sisters and brothers. And that’s what a lot of people don’t understand.”
The Carters worked alongside Madam Hollis and other volunteers to complete her entire home in a week.
A poster signed by volunteers who helped build Madam Hollis’ home, where she has lived since 1988.
PHOTO: REUTERS
They shared meals together and built friendships as they hammered and sawed. For Madam Hollis, the experience was not about just a house – it was also about getting to know the love and humanity of Mr Carter.
“If it weren’t for Jimmy Carter, I’d still be going from apartment to apartment. He put me in this house, and I’m planning on staying here until they take me out,” Madam Hollis said.
“I thank him for it. I really do. I love him for it.” REUTERS
