The Common Good
by Ken Chapman, Ph.D.
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President Abraham Lincoln once remarked, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Few people have more power than an American President. Being the leader of the free world can certainly go to a person’s head, but this is not so with Jimmy Carter. If you review his career from the time he was a school board official through his term in the White House and beyond, you can see that he was willing to take on nearly any role to achieve a goal that he believed in. He always embraced the importance of the common good.
There is possibly no more vivid example of his belief in the importance of the common good than his work with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat was officially founded by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1976, though the two had been exploring the idea for many years before that, first in the United States and then overseas. The goal of the organization is a huge one—to eliminate poverty-level housing and homelessness from the world. In the late1970’s and early 1980’s, the Fullers began their bold venture. After six years, they had built houses internationally in Mexico, Zaire, and Guatemala. In the United States, they had affiliates building houses in San Antonio, Texas; Americus, Georgia; Johns Island, South Carolina; and other locations in Florida and the Appalachia mountain area. Groundwork was being laid for them to build in many other cities, but the process was a struggle. They found a successful formula for the goal—offer home ownership to the neediest people able to make a house payment. Build low-cost housing using volunteer labor, involve the future homeowner in the building process, and create no-interest loans to finance the houses. It was an inspired idea and it was catching on.
To reach the world, as they desired however, the Fullers knew they would have to take Habitat to a whole new level. From their headquarters in the town of Americus in Southern Georgia, the Fullers saw a possibility. Ten miles away in the tiny town of Plains was a man who might be able to help them—Jimmy Carter. The former U. S. President had spoken at a couple of Habitat functions. Following Carter’s speaking in 1983, Millard Fuller got the idea to approach Carter about helping promote the project, and in early 1984, they made contact. When Carter said he was very interested in Habitat for Humanity, Fuller decided to boldly propose a list of 15 possible roles the former president could take, hoping he would agree to one or two. His list included serving on Habitat’s board, making media contacts, helping to raise money, doing a 30-minute video, and working on a building crew for a day. To Fuller’s surprise, Carter did not agree to do one or two items on the list; he agreed to do everything on the list.
Ironically, the task that captured the attention of the public most was Carter’s willingness to serve on a building crew and swing a hammer to help construct a house. At first people thought Carter would just stop by for brief publicity photos, but the former president put together a work crew, traveled with them via Trailways Bus to the Brooklyn, New York building site, worked tenaciously every day for a week, and slept in a church basement along with everyone else. That first time was in 1984. Each year, Carter raised a team and served in a similar fashion. His dedicated service has attracted people from every walk of life to serve in similar roles.
Habitat for Humanity is the brainchild of the Fullers and its success is the result of the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe. But Jimmy Carter is the one who put it on the map! His selfless service inspired people, rich and poor, famous and obscure, powerful and not so powerful, to see the huge goal of helping people at the lowest level of society by providing them with a decent place to live. He inspired many to get involved.
President Carter may not be the best president in U. S. history, but he may well be one of the best former presidents in U. S. history. So far, Habitat and its volunteers have built more than a million houses, sheltering more than five million people all over the world. These volunteers did this because they, like former President Jimmy Carter, wanted to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Like former President Jimmy Carter, they believed in the importance of the common good.
