By Maria Alejandra Cardona
ATLANTA (Reuters) – Sally Mae Hollis says she isn’t the sole owner of the house in Atlanta she’s lived in for the past 36 years, graciously telling visitors who stop by: “This is Jimmy’s home!”
That would be Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president who in 1988, along with his wife, Rosalynn, helped workers from Habitat for Humanity construct the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house where Hollis, 86, has resided ever since.
Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at age 100, was an avid backer of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that has helped over 59 million people build or repair homes in more than 70 countries. His Carter Center worked on 4,447 homes in 14 counties, according to the center’s website, with the former president himself swinging a hammer on many of them.
“He was so plain, just like everybody else,” Hollis recalled on Tuesday of Carter when he assisted in constructing the porch of her home. “Jimmy cut the wood, and we finished it that day. That back porch lasted 30 years until I finally replaced it last month.”