INDIANAPOLIS — On Thursday, former President Jimmy Carter will be laid to rest in his home state of Georgia after he died in late December at age 100. It's been more than 40 years since the 39th president left the White House after just one term in office. His decades-long post-presidency was focused on numerous service projects including curing disease in Africa and building homes with Habitat for Humanity. Carter was just shy of his 95th birthday when he picked up a nail gun and got to work building homes in northern Indiana back in 2018 as part of "The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project." Photos: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter visit Indiana during 2018 Carter Work Project It was the former first couples' 35th habitat build and focused on building or improving 41 homes in Mishawaka and South Bend. “For him to be out there doing that, it was really special and really just showed his commitment," volunteer Chris Parker said. "He wasn’t going to just be a person that rode around in the golf cart or something like that waving at people. He wanted to be involved.” Parker is a long-time volunteer with Habitat and was one of the hundreds of people who worked alongside the Carters in St. Joseph County. He recalled Carter being keenly focused on the work as well as his fellow builders. "He made a point to check out each team, each home and shake folks hands and just be there as an inspiration," Parker said. Carter's caring spirit stuck with Rod Usher as well. Usher also took part in the 2018 build and said Carter embodied what Habitat for Humanity is all about. "He thanked us for being there, for volunteering. So I think that says something about who he is as a person. He cares," Usher said. Photos: Jimmy Carter, from the White House to building houses The Carters first got involved with Habitat for Humanity in 1984 when they participated in a build in Americus, Ga. That sparked the first "Carter Work Project" which took place on New York City's Lower East Side. "He cared about his neighbors and he wanted to see his neighbors have maybe something a little bit better than they had before they met him," Usher said. While Carter's time as the nation's leader still brings about mixed feelings, both Usher and Parker said they hope his legacy will be focused on his lifetime commitment to helping others. "I just hope people will take away how dedicated he was...to making the world better, to making individual lives better," Usher said. The next Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project will take place in October 2025 in Austin, Texas.