Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Advocate for Affordable Housing With Habitat for Humanity (Exclusive)

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are picking up their hammers and getting to work to provide affordable housing to the people of Charlotte, North Carolina. As hosts of the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project to benefit Habitat for Humanity this year, the country superstar couple opened up to PopCulture.com about their passion for providing housing to the people who need it and carrying on the legacy of former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

Teaming up with 900 other Habitat for Humanity volunteers to build 27 homes in just a week, Yearwood told PopCulture that she and her husband are “honored to be here this year to represent the spirit of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter,” having been volunteering with the nonprofit since the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. “I mean for us, home, we take for granted. Our entire lives we’ve had a roof over our heads,” the “She’s in Love with the Boy” singer explained, calling housing both a “basic human right” and something she had previously not appreciated fully.

“When you get a chance to work alongside a homeowner here who is going to own a home for the first time in their lives and have a safe place for their children, you have a deep respect and gratitude for what you have and the things that we take for granted,” she shared. Brooks agreed, “My favorite thing that [Habitat for Humanity does] is they understand that the roof over the head is the necessity. What happens from there is you get to dream. … You don’t have to worry about where you’re sleeping. Now you get to dream, you get to contribute and become part of the society. And I think that’s the most important thing because out of these seeds will spring the trees of our future.”

Continuing the Carters’ legacy is easy, Yearwood and Brooks agreed, as the two nonagenarians are “watching from home and they’re making sure we’re getting our work done.” Brooks explained of the impact they’ve left on the culture of the Carter Work Projects, “When you come here, everybody follows the Jimmy and Mrs. Rosalynn rules. You don’t take pictures, you work. That’s what you do when you’re here.” 

The CMA Award winners are no different, with Brooks calling his wife the “nail gun diva” and Yearwood revealing she’s learned over the years to frame walls, hang siding and more. “We love Garth and Trisha,” Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International told PopCulture, recalling the time he first met them in New Orleans on a build. “We have celebrities who show up, just want a photo op, and leave. They came, built all day, stayed and helped clean up the build side. And we thought, ‘Okay, these are our kind of folks.’ Their year-after-year commitment, and their willingness to bring their social capital and attention to the cause has been so important for us.” 

Brooks added, “It’s got nothing to do with us, no offense. It’s got something to do with people loving people, and making sure that people get a roof over their head because it’s a basic human right.” For more information on Habitat for Humanity, visit their website here.