Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood Host the Carters' Building Project

Amid former President Jimmy Carter's ongoing illness, Garth Brooks and his fellow country legend wife Trisha Yearwood have stepped in as the hosts for the 2023 Carter Work Project.

This year — which marks the first year the former President and his wife Rosalynn have not been present at a Work Project since 1984 — the organization is focusing on creating affordable housing in Charlotte, N.C.

According to local outlet Queen City News, Brooks and Yearwood are leading approximately 900 volunteers per day to build 27 homes in a west Charlotte neighborhood. The houses are being built on a site formerly occupied by the historically Black Plato Price School, which was founded in 1915 and closed in 1966.

Yearwood and Brooks have been involved in Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Work Project for many years, dating back to a 2007 trip to New Orleans, where they helped support an initiative to rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina.

"Garth and I both were struck by how down to earth and how hands on [the Carters] were. They were building," Yearwood remembers in an interview with MSNBC from the work site in Charlotte. "And we were really there to take a picture, maybe hold a hammer — and we stayed all day. We had the best time. And that was kind when our love for Habitat was born."

Brooks agrees that the hands-on component of the work — and especially, the act of working alongside the soon-to-be-homeowner — makes this project particularly gratifying.

"The fact that the homeowner is right there. Ours is Jeremy. And working beside Jeremy today is the greatest honor. We just feel really lucky to be part of it," Brooks notes.

Yearwood and Brooks are taking the reins from the Carter family on this project during a time when both the former President and his wife are battling health issues. Jimmy Carter celebrated his 99th birthday on Saturday (Oct. 1) after entering hospice care in early 2023. In May, Rosalynn Carter was diagnosed with dementia, according to a statement posted on the Carter Center's website.

See Inside Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's Malibu Beach House:

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's former beachside house in Malibu offered a gorgeous vacation paradise for the country music power couple to relax.

Brooks and Yearwood bought their 4-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 4,200-square-foot house in Malibu for slightly less than $5 million in June of 2008. The house itself is fairly modest, but very well-appointed, featuring an open floor plan.

The living room boasts a corner fireplace and multiple sets of French doors that open to the backyard. The kitchen includes marble countertops, while skylights offer plenty of natural California sunlight. The den features floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on either side of a fireplace of white brick.

The backyard is spectacular, featuring a loggia, an outdoor fireplace, a half-court basketball court and elaborate landscaping. The house provides direct access to the world-famous Malibu beach via a set of steps.

The couple sold the house in Malibu in late 2016 for $7 million.

Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker