UNCOVERED: Carter Work Project, 32 Years Later

UNCOVERED: Carter Work Project, 32 Years Later

32 years ago, in June of 1989, President Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter teamed up with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity to host one of the most ambitious builds in our organization’s history: the Carter Work Project. With the help of 1,000 volunteers and partners from Associated General Contractors of General Milwaukee, the build was planned to a tee…yet at the last moment was very nearly upended.

Plagued with steady, chilly rain, the Milwaukee build was in danger of falling behind schedule. During a live TV interview, President Carter asked for help from local roofers, who started showing up in droves the following morning. They roofed all the houses in one day, and the Milwaukee affiliate received a huge boost in donations and attention that carried it forward. More than 1,000 volunteers finished six homes in just five days.

In this recently uncovered footage, watch the extraordinary effort of the Milwaukee community banding together to make the impossible, possible.