NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In the quiet neighborhood of Park Preserve is where Teria Perry walks and also reflects.

“The fact that a former president came all the way here to contribute his knowledge, his everything, it was huge,” she said. “I wanted to meet him.”

Four years ago, the North Nashville neighborhood was filled with 1,500 volunteers. One of them was former President Jimmy Carter.

Nashville was the home to the 36th Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project through Habitat for Humanity. It was also the last build President Carter participated in.

A fall didn’t stop Carter or his wife from helping to build 21 homes in the neighborhood Perry now walks through.

“Everybody deserves the peace of the American dream, to be a homeowner, to be productive,” she said.

Sherry Stinson was the project lead for the Carters’ work project, seeing the former president’s passion for this work up close.

“He’s been willing to show up, even with a bruised head and a black eye, and he came to work the next day,” she said. “I just think if you really want to make a change in the world and you really say you want the world to be a little bit better, you know, look at their lives as an example.”

It’s an example Perry is able to see every day as she walks through this neighborhood.

“Guess what, there’s a lot of bad in the world, but if someone like that can spread so much, we can make it better,” she said. “It can be better.”

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville’s President and CEO Danny Herron released this statement about Carter:

“We had the opportunity to meet former President Carter and Rosalynn during the 2019 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project here in Nashville. Former President Carter showed our nation and our world what putting God’s love into action by bringing people together to build hope means. His legacy of uplifting humanity through his work at Habitat for Humanity is a tremendous gift to the world. Our prayers and thoughts are with him and his family during this tender time.”