DENVER — The loss of former President Jimmy Carter is felt in Denver's Globeville neighborhood — a community he visited in 2013 with Habitat for Humanity to help build and repair homes.
A decade later, Mario Mora looks out on his property the former president worked on, recalling the togetherness Carter instilled during that visit.
Mora still has a framed picture from Carter's visit and recalled after the picture was taken, going to a dinner reception and hearing the former president speak. While he does not remember Carter's exact words from the night, Mora remembers, "they were really inspiring and had a lot to do with family, got to support the family, get the family together, got to keep it strong and that's basically what Globeville was doing that day — being a family and that was just one awesome day here in this community."
During the presidential Habitat for Humanity project, 11 townhomes were built and 15 home repairs were completed. Carter worked alongside Coloradans, making improvements to the neighborhood still visible on Mora's property.
"They came in and they did my driveway here, the handicap ramp and they resided my garage with the new garage door gutters and a back porch and steps for my back porch," Mora said.
To express his appreciation for Carter and Habitat for Humanity, Mora made a peace sign out of aluminum and stamped the names of the 27 families who were supported to send to Carter and made a copy for himself.
"Oh, I was thanking him for what they did for us, not just me, but for the community here," Mora said.
Carter's commitment to others is also felt across the state of Colorado withDenver7 speaking with Heather Lafferty — former CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver — and former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm on the 39th president's legacy.
“His call for us to unify to continue to love one another, to continue to be compassionate with one another, to listen to one another and to be present for one another… I just remember listening to him and thinking, ‘There is nobody I would rather listen to right now than President Carter,” Lafferty said.
The visit from a former president to Globeville not only brought new homes and needed repairs, but also lifelong memories to people like Mora, who saw Carter's commitment to the community.
"Hopefully I'll never forget it for the rest of my life, you know, we're really proud of what happened here and I'm proud to talk about it too," Mora said.