Jimmy Carter being remembered for decades of work with Habitat for Humanity

Back here at home, former President Jimmy Carter is being remembered for his nearly 40 years as an ambassador for the Georgia-based charity Habitat for Humanity.

That charity took him and the former First Lady around the world as volunteers.

Carter never visited a Habitat work site here, but he has come to the Pacific Northwest many times.  After all, there is a submarine based here named for him.  And, of course, he has written more than two dozen books.

But he may best be remembered for the work he and his wife have done with Habitat for Humanity.

“An incredible second act,” said Amy Farrier. “I almost consider that the second part of his life. He was able to serve humanity.”

And it is that service to humanity through Habitat for Humanity that Amy Farrier is talking about.

“It has been extraordinary,” she said.

And so, for Farrier, the development director for Habitat in Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties, this is an extraordinarily difficult time, contemplating the life of the organization without perhaps its biggest booster and even into his 90s, one of its most ardent volunteers.

“He’s essentially synonymous with Habitat for Humanity,” said Farrier.

An organization founded not far from his Plains, Georgia, home, devoted to helping families help themselves into or doing repairs on housing they might otherwise never be able to afford.

“He’s done a number of different projects through that Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter work project, where those were annual builds where thousands of people have come out to be part of that,” Farrier said. “I think overall, 140,000 volunteers have volunteered with Jimmy and Rosalyn Partner Work Project. And I think when you add it all up, I think they helped over 4,300 families either repair or build their homes.”

The nation’s 39th president has also stopped numerous times in the Pacific Northwest, promoting some of the more than 30 books he has written.

Moreover, the USS Jimmy Carter, the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine that bears his name, is based at Naval Base Bangor in Kitsap County.

It has been a remarkable life that appears to be near its end.

“Very sad to say, they are in our thoughts and prayers go out to the Carter family,” Farrier said.

It is a sentiment many Americans undoubtedly share.

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