Former President Jimmy Carter served hundreds in Kentucky through Habitat for Humanity projects

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter built a life-long connection with Bluegrass because of his humanitarian service.

Carter, who at 98 years old is the longest-lived American president, entered home hospice care in Plains, Georgia on Feb. 18. After a series of short hospital stays, Carter "decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention," according to a statement by from The Carter Center.

Lyle Hanna with Kentucky Habitat For Humanity helped bring the 39th President to the state for the nonprofit's work. Hanna has been involved with Habitat for Humanity since the 1980s, and knowing that Carter was a carpenter, he wanted him involved with the organization's projects.

"At some point, we thought, wouldn't it be cool to get President Carter to Kentucky, so a bunch of us put our heads together, we had already done all these other crazy projects, see if we can't get him to build," Hanna said.

Hanna visited Carter's church in Plains, Georgia to approach him about a project in eastern Kentucky. Hanna wanted Carter to help them with a goal of building 50 homes in one week. Carter thought the project was exciting and decided to participate. Hanna said Carter told him three years ago that his trip to eastern Kentucky was one of his favorites.

Carter and his wife Rosalynn later visited Louisville for a fundraising dinner at the Seelbach Hotel set up by Hanna.

"We knew at that point that this was going to be a big success," Hanna said. "He really touched a lot of people in Kentucky."

So, in 1997, the Jimmy Carter Work Project called “Hammering in the Hills" was born, where Carter helped build 50 homes in one week, visiting each town that received a home: Pikeville, Berea, Morehead, Richmond, Daniel Boone, and more.

"To describe it, is a glorious thing you know that you are going to have houses built in seven different places, eight different places, that you're going to fly around from one place in a helicopter. You're going to build 52 houses... Rose and I looked at each other and said 'no way', ha," Carter said years ago.

"He sets a great example. He's a strong Christian. He puts his faith into action. He brings a lot of other people along with him. He motivates all these other people to get involved," Hanna said.

"I think we all realized after we had gotten involved with Habitat, building homes side-by-side with wonderful homeowners, that this was blessing given to us by God, as well as, a blessing for the homeowners to own the houses," Carter previously said.

CARTER hammer — Hammer used and signed by Jimmy Carter

The former president also joined Habitat for Humanity in a project in Hungary. Hanna spent a week working with Carter and around 20 people.

"He really reached out to the people in the neighborhood. It was a community along the river. They invited him over to dinner," Hanna said. "It was really cool for an American president to be that comfortable."

Hanna said Carter helped bring Habitat for Humanity into national relevancy.

"He really put us on the map," Hanna said. "He has a huge heart and he's so down to earth. He is smart as a whip."

Carter was a little-known Georgia governor when he began his bid for the presidency ahead of the 1976 election. He went on to defeat then-President Gerald R. Ford, capitalizing as a Washington outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that drove Richard Nixon from office in 1974.

He campaigned in Louisville in late 1975 and April 1976.

Carter had a busy day on July 31, 1979 as he visited multiple locations around the Louisville area. He went to Cane Run Generating Facility of LG&E to see coal's impact on providing energy. Carter also visited Bardstown for a "town meeting" in a gym before flying to English, Indiana to survey flood damage.

Carter served a single, tumultuous term; and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, a landslide loss that ultimately paved the way for his decades of global advocacy for democracy, public health and human rights via The Carter Center. His work there garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Carter attended the Kentucky Derby in 1983 as a guest of Louisville Mayor Harvey Sloane.

Carter held multiple book signings around Louisville. In 2001, he had a book signing at Hawley-Cooke bookstore on U.S. 42, followed by another signing at Sam's Club on Blankenbaker Parkway in Nov. 2006.

Hanna is considering going to Carter's funeral, but he knows thousands of other people will be there to honor him too. He has stayed in touch with the Carter family, meeting with them more than a dozen times in the last 44 years.

"He's so caring, and he's so smart and hardworking, and he gets people motivated," Hanna said. "It's going to be sad to lose him because he's such a bright light, leads a lot of people to do really good things for other people in the world."