ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — In the year since former President Jimmy Carter passed away, the legacy he left behind at the Carter Center in Atlanta endures.

That said, it’s been a different year for the center that, over the decades, has helped eradicate tropical diseases, broker peace deals and monitor elections worldwide.

Days after Carter was buried in his beloved hometown of Plains, Georgia, the second Trump administration, still in its early days, slashed funding to foreign aid programs. That included USAID, from which the Carter Center pulled funding through the State Department.

“There is no doubt that when USAID was shut down and support from the U.S. government was stopped, that affected the Carter Center,” said Craig Withers, who worked for the Carter Center for nearly four decades. “We lost about $11 million.”

Those millions went to programs that Withers helped implement over the years: disease eradication, peace efforts and protection of human rights.

At one point, Withers said, the Center had over 3,500 employees working in 16 different countries. He did the work, every step of the way, alongside Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, and said even in death the former first couple made sure it could continue.

“We had a very diverse funding base, a very committed funding base as well,” said Withers. “The structure they put in place, we absorbed that hit and our program has continued.”

“The harm that has been done more generally, while it hit us, it didn’t debilitate us,” Withers continued. “They would be proud that the Carter Center hasn’t shied away from the challenges.”

The anniversary of Carter’s passing, a somber first for the Carter Center, has allowed his colleagues and friends to reflect on the legacy the former president left behind.

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Withers said his enduring image of Carter will be his boots-on-the-ground efforts in foreign nations, not just simply passing through, but taking the time to get to know the people he was helping.

And he did, Withers said. Take for instance the Center’s Guinea worm program. When Withers first helped implement it in 1986, the Carter Center tracked 3.5 million cases that year. In 2025, they were tracking just 10.

The Carter Center has also helped treat 30 million people for river blindness, and is working now to advocate for people in the Democratic Republic of Congo who live near mines. Just recently, the Center also absorbed the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, another issue close to the hearts of the former president and first lady.

Jimmy Carter, Withers said, will forever be inextricably linked to the Center and its work.

“He had an influence that I’m not so sure other former presidents have,” Withers said. “He was special, and we won’t see his like in a long time.”

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