Hope Gibson and Victoria Franklin still live in the homes former President Jimmy Carter helped build.
It was June of 1992 and hundreds of people grabbed hammers and saws and constructed a row of single family homes along Benning Road SE over the course of a week.
"If it wasn't for Jimmy Carter and his doing with the program, I wouldn't be here today," Franklin said.
Three doors down, Victoria's neighbor, Hope, feels the same way.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. >Sign up here.
"You saw the love. The love that he gave people. And it was just a big honor," she said.
Both women have fond memories of working side-by-side with the former president and his wife, Rosalynn. They also have nothing but praise for Habitat for Humanity – a program that demanded sweat equity. The Carters famously built houses all around the United States with Habitat.
Habitat for Humanity is a program that demands sweat equity. Potential homeowners and volunteers put in hundreds of hours of labor. In return, the new homeowners get to purchase the house with a no-interest mortgage.
"I'm done. It's paid off. Jimmy Carter did it for me," Franklin said calling him a wonderful man. "I love being here and I pray to God that I'm here another 30 years."
Gibson said her son, his friends, her friends all volunteered to help put her house up, one wall at a time.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Years after Carter helped build her house, she saw him during a visit to the District. Gibson said Carter gave her a hug and asked, 'Is the house still standing?' She said they shared a joke.
Gibsons said all these years later, when she tells people where she lives, people still say, 'Oh, you got one of the President's houses.'
Both women saved photos and newspaper clippings from the week their houses were built. It's a week that's now etched in their memories, so very grateful to a man they said who just cared.
"When you give a lot of yourself, you're worthy. You deserve the honor of everything," Gibson said.
