Rewind to 1983. . .
Charlotte elects Harvey Gantt, the city’s first black mayor; Jim Hunt, occupies the governor’s
mansion in Raleigh; and President Jimmy Carter is two years gone from the White House.
Quietly, effectively, and under the public radar, seven prominent local churches come together
to establish an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. In so doing, a formidable private-sector champion
for affordable housing—fueled by Charlotte’s faith community, business community, and volunteer
zeal—begins a mission whose impact will be measured both in numbers and the intangibles that
will shape generations of families for 40 years.

Fast forward to 2023 . . .
In its 40 years of building homes, communities, and hope with hard-working families, Habitat
Charlotte Region has served more than 3,500 local families through the combined efforts of new construction housing, critical repair work to preserve the area’s existing stock of affordable
housing, and financial literacy education.

From White House to Habitat house . . .
Jimmy Carter didn’t start Habitat for Humanity, but he’s been Volunteer One since its beginning.
As a result, Habitat’s annual Carter Work Project, an international event of home building, was
established in his honor in 1984. Except for the three-year COVID hiatus, it has been Habitat
International’s most high-profile event every year since.

A superstar year of celebration . . .
For its four decades of serving the Queen City with affordable housing, Habitat Charlotte Region
was selected to host the 2023 Carter Work Project during the first week of October. Country music
superstars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will be here to lead volunteer crews in the Meadows
at Plato Price, a 39-home raw land development off of Wilkinson Boulevard in west Charlotte.

Forty-year milestone with a $40 million goal . . .
A project of this size—in addition to Habitat’s work elsewhere in the region—requires outsized
resourcing. Habitat’s ambitious goal of raising $40 million will underwrite a historic level of
affordable housing production. As a result, scores of new families will realize the dream of
homeownership and the prospect of becoming free from the bonds of generational poverty.

Find out more about how we’re amplifying impact in our 40th year here: habitatcltregion.org/40th-anniversary/