1993 La Porte Chapter, Bay Area Habitat for Humanity-lots 1-13, block 128

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COMMENTARY HANDS FORA HOME Former President Jimmy Carter describes his rewarding involvement with Habitat for Humanity Even for a former President it isn't easy to find a project that is at the same time exciting, some- what controversial, inspirational, t challenging, unpredictable, ex- tremely worthwhile, highly suc- _ . _ 'cessful, and international in sco'pe, -:-- 'J t But such is Habitat for Humanity. I have chosen not to serve on any boards of directors of corpo- ~ rations or to get involved in any .- outside commercial activities. I 1 am very busy, now in my fourth .' year as a professor at Emory Uni- I . versity, having written two books I . since leaving tpe White House l' and being deeply involved in rais- ~ ing contributions, designing and ,I I building a Presidential library, i....; ..' and establishing a policy center in ,'+ Atlanta, However, I have also found time to become an active di- rector of Habitat, and Rosalynn serves as one of its advisers, Habitat was started by Millard Fuller, an ambitious young Ala- bama attorney whose competence and drive made him a millionaire at a very early age, His wealth and reputation were rapidly expanding when his wife, Linda, decided that the accumulation of money could not co~- 'tinue to be one of their main purposes in life if their marriage was to survive. As part of a reconciliation effort, the Fullers stopped for a brief visit at Koinonia Farms, near Americus, Geor- gia, and not far from our home in Plains. 18 They stayed there for four-and-a- half years, and began to build homes for the many poor people in the area. Then Millard and Linda took their family to Zaire and ex- panded their ideas on an interna- tional scale. Nine years ago they returned to Americus and official- ly launched Habitat for Human- ity. Rosalynn and I knew very little about Habitat until we returned home from the White House. We both decided to teach Sunday- school lessons in our church and a number of Habitat volunteers be- gan to attend the services. We were impressed with their dedica- tion and enthusiasm. Also, Millard Fuller was very eager for us to be- come actively involved in his pro- ject and provided us with a flood of information, invitations, and re- quests-much more than we wanted. Finally, in self-defense, I invited Millard to come to our home with a list of things he want- ed us to do, and we would check L1SAFOLSOMA"CH"E off those that were acceptable to us. He did so and, because of his per- suasiveness and the qualities of the pro- gram, we agreed to comply with most of his requests. It was a very wise decision. What is Habitat for Humanity, and why have we found our involvement in it so gratifying? First of all, Habitat is an ecumenical effort with its origins and principles founded in the Bible. Its purpose is to provide decent housing for poor people in need. We do not ac- cept any state or federal funds because we want our efforts to supplement much-needed public housing and not to supplant it in any way. Our projects are not based on charity, and we do not assume the roles of generous and somewhat superior benefactors but of real partners with those who will occu- py the new homes. Our volunteers are President Carter was the keynote speaker at the New York Habitat's dedication ceremony, top. on October 12, 1985. Above: He takes a break from carpentry in front of the Habitat project on East 6th Street. Left: Rosalynn Carter quickly learned carpentry skills in her work as a volunteer for Habitat. HOUSE & GARDEN