BREVARD, N.C. (828newsNOW) – Most men are remembered for the power they held, money they accrued or the grand projects they completed. The late President Jimmy Carter saw things differently. He was a humanitarian first and president second.
The thirty-nineth president of the United States, James Earl Carter, Jr., better known as “Jimmy,” left office more than four decades before his death on Dec. 29, 2024, at the age of 100. His work in the years following his tenure in the Oval Office endeared him to the public far more than his time behind the Resolute desk.
Carter, along his wife former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, founded the Carter Work Project in 1984 as an expansion to the work already being done by Habitat for Humanity. The annual house building blitz, once headed and fundraised by the Carter’s, has employed an army of more than 100,000 volunteers to produce more than 4,000 homes in the last four decades for families in need.
Today, Habitat for Humanity’s Transylvania County chapter is honoring the legacy of the man who constructed thousands of homes for families in need. Looking rather out of place, a timber framed doorway stands in Brevard’s Clemson Plaza reminding the residents of the numerous doors the late president helped build.
A post on the City of Brevard’s Facebook account explains the reason behind the monument.
“If you’ve been to Clemson Plaza recently, you’ve probably seen Transylvania Habitat and ReStore’s exhibit, which honors President Jimmy Carter’s legacy of service,” the city’s Facebook post reads. “The temporary memorial symbolizes the many doors that President Carter helped open in his lifetime, and members of the public are invited to pay their respects and sign the memorial wall while it remains in the plaza.”
It is unclear how much longer the interactive monument will be on display. For now, the structure is stationed at 79 West Main Street in downtown Brevard. Visitors who wish to write a message on the door should plan to bring their own marker.