The Windsor-Essex community came together to remember and honour the life of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex volunteers, along with local residents, gathered at the Habitat ReStore on Friday morning to pay personal tribute to Carter.
Habitat has mounted a blue door in the corner of the ReStore for the public to sign, write their name, or leave a personal message to honour the legacy that Carter left behind.
The former president helped the local community with Habitat for Humanity by hosting the first-ever international Carter Work Project in Windsor/Detroit in 2005, as well as helped build a number of homes on Bruce Avenue and Janette Avenue that people still live in today.
Fiona Coughlin, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex, says Carter helped even the local community.
"So if you were to go to the houses that Jimmy Carter built on Bruce Avenue and open up the drywall, you would see on the studs signatures of all the volunteers that helped on that project, including Jimmy Carter's signature."
She says Carter left such a legacy.
"These doors are happening at affiliates across the globe where folks are signing the doors and the studs with their thoughts and remembrance of our beloved friend Jimmy Carter. And we promise, of course, to keep that legacy going."
Coughlin says there are mixed feelings.
"It's tough to put your finger on the feeling we're feeling right now, because we're sad to have lost somebody. But, what a life well-lived. What a legacy."
Coughlin adds that the signed door will eventually be installed in future homes or for repairs to existing ones.
In his lifetime, Carter helped to build, renovate or repair more than 4,400 home in 14 countries, according to Habitat for Humanity.
Jimmy Carter died on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100. He was the 39th President of the United States of America.
-with files from CTV Windsor's Michelle Maluske