The sound of hammers echoed through Langston Park as volunteers raised walls under the Georgia sun. Future homeowners walked through unfinished frames, imagining kitchens, bedrooms and the possibility of staying rooted in a city where housing feels increasingly out of reach.

Held May 3-8 in southwest Atlanta, the 2026 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project marked Habitat for Humanity’s 50th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the Carter Work Project, an annual weeklong Habitat build that brings together volunteers, future homeowners and community partners to help create affordable housing. Atlanta last hosted the Carter Work Project in 1988. Over the course of 5 days, volunteers built 24 homes in Langston Park located in the Sylvan Hills neighborhood of Southwest Atlanta.

The Carter Work Project began in 1984 when former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in New York City. Since then, the annual build has brought thousands of volunteers to communities across the United States and around the world. This year’s Atlanta project focused on expanding affordable homeownership opportunities in southwest Atlanta as housing costs continue to rise across the region.

But beyond the numbers and construction timelines, the project centered on people searching for stability, community and a place to remain in Atlanta’s future. This is particularly important now as 1 in 3 Atlanta residents do not own their homes. 

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity CEO Rosalyn Merrick said the event reflected the growing urgency around housing affordability.

Merrick described the project as a reminder of what can happen when communities come together around housing.

“It demonstrates the power of community,” Merrick said. “When we can come together under a shared purpose, a shared focus, a shared urgency, we can achieve something really incredible.”

For future homeowner Ozzie Herrera, the experience was deeply personal.

Herrera moved to Atlanta from Florida looking for diversity, culture and connection, but rising rents made it harder to stay in neighborhoods he cared about.

“I realized that I wouldn’t be able to stick around to see all the developments that [were] happening around me in Edgewood,” Herrera said. “The rent was being raised too high, and I wasn’t getting any richer.”

A coworker eventually encouraged him to apply for Habitat after hearing him talk about housing costs and finances while at work.

Now, Herrera sees homeownership as a chance to remain part of Atlanta rather than being pushed out of it.

“It just feels like home,” he said of the Langston Park area. “It’s a big city, but it has sort of like a small-town vibe to it.”

He described physically helping build his own future home alongside volunteers as emotional and surreal.

“It’s the best thing I ever had in life. And we’re building it from the ground up. We’re seeing it from its bones, and we’re gonna watch it grow,” Herrera said.

Volunteers from across the country worked through the heat, many returning year after year for the Carter Work Project.

Scott Craven traveled from outside Detroit for his 7th Carter Work Project build. He first became involved with Habitat through a college chapter and has now volunteered for more than 20 years. He has also worked for Habitat International and for two local Habitat affiliates in Ohio.

“There’s definitely a need,” Craven said. “Affordable housing and helping someone get a hand up instead of a handout, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about.”

Craven said Habitat’s work is about more than simply constructing homes. He emphasized the importance of building near transit, grocery stores and established communities rather than isolating affordable housing from the rest of the city.

“We don’t just build a Habitat house in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “How does that help somebody at the end of the day?”

Throughout the week, the legacy of late President Jimmy Carter and late first lady Rosalynn Carter remained central to the build.

Their son, Chip Carter, reflected on watching the project grow over four decades.

“You [volunteers] meet these wonderful families that we’re making houses for,” Carter said. “They have big smiles when they see their home.”

He said his parents were drawn to Habitat because the work allowed them to connect directly with people and communities.

“It’s to get in the way and get with real people,” Carter said.

As volunteers packed away tools at the end of long build days, the project’s impact stretched beyond lumber and construction sites. For homeowners like Herrera, the houses rising near Langston Park represent something increasingly difficult to secure in Atlanta: the chance to stay.

Those interested in volunteering with Habitat for Humanity or applying for a home can learn more through Atlanta Habitat for Humanity’s website.

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