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Calling him a ‘friend’ and champion for affordable housing, the Windsor-Essex chapter of Habitat for Humanity held a special gathering Friday to honour former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
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Around 30 current and former volunteers and community members gathered at Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex for the tribute thanking Carter, a decades-long volunteer at the international housing charity. The 39th U.S. president died Sunday at age 100.
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“The hope that he’s brought the whole world through his work with Habitat for Humanity is the biggest legacy anyone could leave,” said local habitat CEO Fiona Coughlin.
“We beam with pride every time we see an image of him smiling or working on a build site, and we’re proud to call him our friend.”
Nearly 20 years ago, the former U.S. president visited Windsor as part of the first Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, where he toured six newly constructed homes along Tecumseh Road West and Bruce Avenue.
During the Windsor visit, Carter met with around 300 local Habitat for Humanity volunteers and the six families who moved into the townhouses.
The annual volunteer project was led by Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who teamed up with Habitat for Humanity volunteers to screw together front porches and hang drywall in a hands-on effort to build affordable housing for families around the world.
Carter personally helped build or renovate 4,447 homes across 14 countries.
“Right now, we’re seeing the families that have lived in these homes that were created 20 years ago, and what that impact has been,” said Coughlin.
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“We see that their children have thrived. We see that they’re getting their master’s degrees. We have a doctor on that street. We have PhDs.
“It’s amazing to see what home ownership can do to transform a family’s future.”
During Friday’s tribute, a wall with a door was raised to represent the many doors of opportunity Carter helped create through his service. Members of the public and volunteers were invited to sign the door with their name or a personal message.
Signing the door at a new build has been a long tradition, said Barb Bjarneson, who has been a Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex volunteer for nearly 25 years. She was one of the first individuals to sign the door at Friday’s Carter tribute.
“Many of us would sign different parts of a home just to say that we were a part of this house,” said Bjarneson.
When it came to her memories of working alongside Carter, Bjarneson said “he was a very approachable man, and it was just a privilege to work alongside him and actually build homes for the families. That’s the most important thing.”
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Coughlin said that many homes built in Windsor bear Carter’s signature. The door signed in his honour on Friday will be used in a future build.
President Joe Biden ordered U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff for 30 days to honour the country’s 39th president (1977-1981) and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Biden declared Thursday, Jan. 9. — the day of Carter’s state funeral service — a national day of mourning and a federal holiday.
mmazak@postmedia.com
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