Jimmy Carter brought hammer, heart to Manitoba Former U.S. president, now in hospice care, twice helped build homes here By: Tyler Searle Posted: 7:00 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023

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This article was published 23/02/2023 (928 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Six years ago, Berhe Haile answered a knock at the door of his new home in St. James.

Greeting him was former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who, through his efforts with Habitat for Humanity Manitoba, helped place Haile and 24 other families into new homes in 2017.

“We said, ‘We are so grateful,’” Haile said Wednesday from his home on Lyle Street.

“They gave us two things: the house and a Bible.… It is good. It is helpful for people to continue a good life.”

The 50-year-old father of three works as a pastor with the Philadelphia Eritrean church. He moved to Canada from Eritrea in 2008 and struggled to find suitable housing before the Habitat program.

Carter, a champion of housing as a basic human right, was the answer to Haile’s prayers.

“He did what he needed in his life,” Haile said of the former president.

Carter — the longest-living American president, at 98 — is receiving hospice care at his home in Plains, Ga., his foundation announced Saturday.

The Democrat was elected in 1976 and served one term before losing to Ronald Reagan, the Republican nominee for president, in 1980. Two years later, the former Georgia governor opened the Carter Center with his wife, Rosalynn.

With a mandate to alleviate human suffering, the Carters have spent decades advancing democracy, health care and housing in countries around the world.

The centre frequently collaborates with other organizations, including the international branch of Habitat for Humanity, which saw the Carters visit Winnipeg on home-building trips in 1993 and 2017.

In 1993, the Carters and Habitat Manitoba built 18 homes, located on Giiwe Cove and Habitat Place in the North End.

Having the Carters attach their names to Habitat Manitoba brought some star power to the organization, which was the first of its kind in Canada when it started in 1987.

“The impact was the raising of the profile of the organization. In 1993, nobody knew who Habitat for Humanity was.… He put it on the map,” said Sandy Hopkins, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba.

Habitat Manitoba has helped build 500 homes over the years, he said.

During their second visit in July 2017, the Carters helped build 25 homes; 16 remain on Lyle Street, while the others were relocated elsewhere in the city.

Access to the former president was limited during his visit, with Secret Service agents watching over him, but Hopkins, 71, was among the crew who greeted Carter at the St. James build site.

“(Carter) is such an iconic figure, and when you meet him, he is so down to earth — so genuine, so pleased to be there.… He has the ability to make you feel special,” he said.

Hopkins credited Carter for his work with Habitat for Humanity and beyond.

“While his importance to Habitat can’t be overstated, the work he has done to help the world needs to be recognized…. Without a doubt, he has accomplished more post-presidency than any other.”

“While his importance to Habitat can’t be overstated, the work he has done to help the world needs to be recognized…. Without a doubt, he has accomplished more post-presidency than any other.”–Sandy Hopkins, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba

Carter was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his lifetime of philanthropic efforts.

“He (is) a man who led with deeds as much as words. He was, and remains, a great inspiration for people all across Manitoba,” said Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham. “His life and dedication and work ethic were an inspiration to me personally as I watched him work on homes.”

Gillingham, who was councillor for the former St. James-Brooklands-Weston ward in 2017, said Carter’s work with Habitat Manitoba brought significant benefits to the community, allowing people to access housing and build equity.

Carter was all business at the job site, which didn’t leave much time for chit-chat, Gillingham said.

The former president led by example, sawing lumber by hand. He was 92 at the time.

“He was working, and because he was working, everybody followed suit,” the mayor said.

Gillingham said Carter embodied servant leadership, a philosophy in which a person focuses on the needs of others before their own.

“To me, that is the most genuine, impactful form of leadership,” Gillingham said.

During the second day of his stay, Carter collapsed on the job site and was rushed to St. Boniface Hospital. He was back at work the next day, saying he felt “fairly good” and attributing the fainting spell to exhaustion.

The same day, he sat down with a Free Press reporter, sharing his thoughts on justice, housing, human rights and income inequality.

“No matter where we go, it’s always obvious that one of the basic human rights that people deserve is a decent place to live,” Carter said.

When asked why aggressive affordable housing policies were not the standard in cities worldwide, Carter admonished government leaders.

“There’s an inadequate understanding by the people that are in power… quite often, they don’t pay adequate attention to the low-income people who are struggling for life,” he said.

“Just hammering a nail, putting in a screw — in a way is a small contribution, I think, to human rights.”

Carter’s efforts with Habitat for Humanity International continued nearly uninterrupted for 37 years. Only once — in 2015, while fighting cancer — was he unable to participate in the builds, which take place in a different city each year.

New York, Haiti and Winnipeg were the only places Carter visited builds twice.

He was unable to participate in the program in recent years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hopkins said.

“Just hammering a nail, putting in a screw — in a way is a small contribution, I think, to human rights.”–Jimmy Carter in 2017

Jason Carter, chairman of the Carter Center and one of the many grandchildren of Jimmy and Rosalynn, tweeted Saturday that he “saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and — as always — their home is full of love.”

Habitat for Humanity International plans to continue working with the Carter Center and collaborate with country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who have worked with the Carters on many of their recent builds, Hopkins said.

“Every community in the world has an affordable housing problem,” he said. “They are going to carry on the program and build on the legacy that he’s created.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.