MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — For one Madison County woman, President Jimmy Carter's death hits close to home. That's because he helped build her home nearly 30 years ago.
"He's a special angel," said Dora Rossetta Trammel Salazar. "That's what I call him."
Salazar, who lives in Richmond, is one of a few people who can say they know a U.S. president. To her, Carter was Heaven-sent.
"I am so pleased and grateful to know that that special angel helped me," she told LEX 18. "He helped a whole lot of others, but he helped me."
She met President Carter in 1997 during a Habitat for Humanity project in Madison County. During the "Hammerin' Hills" build, he helped construct three houses on her street, Douglas Court.
Salazar still lives in the home today and feels grateful for Carter's work outside the Oval Office, which allowed her to have a home of her own.
"To know that he was a president of the United States, who didn't care to go out and pound nails, and help people have homes, his heart can't be measured," she said.
Carter and his wife Rosalynn were longtime advocates for Habitat for Humanity. They helped build more than 4,300 houses for people across the country.
