The Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project - formerly the Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP) - is an annual home building blitz for Habitat for Humanity that generally alternates between a project in the United States one year, and an international location the next.[1] The first JCWP took place in Brooklyn, NY in September, 1984.[2] That first event involved work on a 19-unit apartment complex, and returned the next year to complete the project. In 2009, the Carter Work Project had grown to 166 houses in southest Asia.[3] The project attracts thousands of volunteers, including celebrities,[4] prisoners,[5] and ordinary people[6] to engage in building homes for low-income families around the world.
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The early JCWP were all located in the United States, and were relatively small in comparison to recent years. The first two work projects took place in Brooklyn, NY in September 1984 and July, 1985, and involved "dozens" of volunteers. In 1986, 150 volunteers built a four-unit townhouse during the one-week JCWP. The 1987 JCWP was held in Charlotte, NC, where around 200 volunteers worked on 12 houses. This was done in conjunction with the world-wide House Raising Week '87, where over 250 homes were started or under construction.[2]
The 1988 Carter Work Project was notable in that it involved two separate locations - a 200 volunteer, 10 unit renovation project in North Philadelphia, PA, and a 1000 volunteer, 20 house project in Atlanta, GA. In 1989, the JCWP involved over 100 0 volunteers in Milwaukee, WI completing 6 homes, and renovating 8 others. The broader House-Raising Week in 1989 involved the startup, completion, or rehab of 500 homes.[2]
The 1990 Jimmy Carter Work Project was both the first to include homes built outside the United States, and also the first to span a border, taking place in Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California. Around 2000 volunteers raised 100 homes in Tijuana, and 7 others in San Diego. The 1991 JCWP involved 400 volunteers building 14 houses and a day-care center in Miami, Florida. In 1992, the Carter Work Project involved 1000 volunteers building 10 houses - including one built comp letely by women - in Washington, DC, and the rehabilitation of another 10 row houses in nearby Baltimore, MD.[7]
The first completely international Jimmy Carter Work Project took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Waterloo, Ontario in Canada. At the 1993 JCWP, 1100 volunteers built 18 houses in Winnipeg, and 10 in Waterloo.[7] The 1994 JCWP built 30 houses on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in Eagle Butte, SD. In 1995, the JCWP employed 1500 volunteers to build 21 houses in the Watts/Willowbrook community of Los Angeles. This was accompanied by an accelerated build at five other southern California affiliates.[8]
1996 saw the first Jimmy Carter Work Project to take place outside North America. In 1996, 500 volunteers from 23 countries built 10 houses in Vac, Hungary.[8] The 14th annual Jimmy Carter Work Project, "Hammering in the Hills", brought volunteers to the Appalachia region of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. The 1997 JCWP built over 50 houses for seven affiliates throughout the region, with 24 other affiliates boosting their summertime building by a total of 40 additional homes, with a partnership with the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises providing an additional 60 houses that summer.[9]
100 houses were built from the ground-up during the weeklong 1998 JCWP in Houston, Texas. A total of 6000 volunteers participated in the 1998 Carter Work Project,[10] including 25 local prison inmates, six of whom were hired by the local HFH affiliate after the completion of their sentences.[5] The next Jimmy Carter Work Project brought 14,000 volunteers to the Philippines to build 293 houses in March 1999. This was the first JCWP to take place in Asia.[11]
2000 brought the Carter Work Project back to New York for the first time since the original Work Projects in 1984 and '85, along with projects in Florida and Georgia. The 2000 JCWP built 22 houses in New York, 35 in Georgia, and 100 in Florida. Habitat's 100,000th house dedication took place at the New York JCWP on September 11, 2000.[12] 2001 brought the JCWP back to Asia, this time to Korea, where 9000 volunteers - including South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung - built 136 houses.[13]
For the first time in 2002, the Jimmy Carter Work Project was held outside the United States for two consecutive years. The 2002 JCWP brought volunteers to Durban, South Africa to build 100 houses.[14] 2003 brought the Work Project back to the United States, this time to build 92 houses in Alabama and Georgia.[15] In 2004, the Carter Work Project brought volunteers to Puebla and Veracruz, Mexico to build 150 houses.[16] In 2005, the Carter Work Project was held in Detroit and Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario.[17] The 2005 JCWP was documented by the DIY Network in the series Habitat Homes: Jimmy Carter Work Project, which showcased both new homeowners and the volunteers at the 2005 Carter Work Project. [18]
The 2006 Carter Work Project engaged over 2000 volunteers to build 100 houses in Lonavala, Maharastra, and Malavli, India.[19] In 2007, the JCWP built 30 houses and refurbished dozens more in South Central Los Angeles - a city with more families living in poverty than any in America[20] - and San Pedro, California.[21]
In 2008, the project was rechristened the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, and brought volunteers to the Hurricane Katrina ravaged Mississippi gulf coast.[22] 2009 brought the JRCWP to the Mekong region of southeast Asia, where volunteer built 166 homes in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and earthquake damaged Sichuan, China.[23] 2010 brought the Carter Work Project with over 1000 volunteers back to Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD along with sites in Birmingham, Alabama, Annapolis, Maryland, and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. The 2010 project emphasized the rehabilitation of forclosed properties.[24]
The 2011 Carter Work Project is scheduled for November 5–12 in Haiti, a country ravaged by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on 12 January 2010.[25]
| Year | Location |
|---|---|
| 1984 | Brooklyn, NY |
| 1985 | Brooklyn, NY |
| 1986 | Chicago, Il |
| 1987 | Charlotte, NC |
| 1988 | Philadelphia, PA and Atlanta, GA |
| 1989 | Milwaukee, WI |
| 1990 | Tijuana, MX and San Diego, CA |
| 1991 | Miami, FL |
| 1992 | Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD |
| 1993 | Winnipeg, MB and Waterloo, ON |
| 1994 | Eagle Butte, SD |
| 1995 | Los Angeles and southern California |
| 1996 | Vac, Hungary |
| 1997 | Tennessee and Kentucky |
| 1998 | Texas |
| 1999 | Philippines |
| 2000 | New York, Florida, and Georgia |
| 2001 | South Korea |
| 2002 | South Africa |
| 2003 | Alabama and Georgia |
| 2004 | Mexico |
| 2005 | Detroit and Benton Harbor, Michigan |
| 2006 | Lonavala, India |
| 2007 | Los Angeles |
| 2008 | Gulf Coast, Mississippi |
| 2009 | Mekong region, Thailand, China, Laos, and Cambodia |
| 2010 | Washington, DC, Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland, Birmingham, Alabama, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota |
| 2011 | Léogâne, Haiti |