Jimmy Carter turns 100: Looking back at his 2013 visit to build houses in Denver

Jimmy Carter turned 100 on Tuesday, and in honor of the former president’s centenarian milestone, Denver7 is looking back at Carter’s 2013 work project visit to Denver.

Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter came to Denver in October 2013 to help build and repair homes in the Globeville neighborhood.

"It was an incredible opportunity for President and Mrs. Carter to come to our community to help us understand and put a lens on the need for housing in our community, and then to show very clearly what a solution looks like," Heather Rafferty, who was the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Metro Denver at the time, told Denver7 in a 2019 interview.

More than 2,000 volunteers joined him, building 11 new homes and repairing 15 others between Oct. 6 and 12, 2013.

Jimmy Carter turns 100: A look back at when the former president helped build houses in Denver

Carter's 2013 Denver visit was part of a four-state Habitat for Humanity work project that served 86 families. He had turned 89 just days before his Colorado stop.

"He got to work," Rafferty said. "There's there's no slowing him down. And in fact, you don't want to slow down when you work alongside him, because if you even just take a moment break, he'll give you that look and say, 'Do you need another job?'"

In honor of the former president’s 100th birthday, Habitat for Humanity volunteers are devoting this week to building 30 houses in St. Paul, Minnesota. They are led by country music giants Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who worked alongside the Carters for years.

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