Fans of country music superstars Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks may want to take note: The former Hillcrest golf course, now known as The Heights, was not only the site of their latest volunteer turn for Habitat for Humanity, butmay also prove to be the start of marital, um, friction.
“I think 17 years of [volunteering for] Habitat has been a lot easier than 19 years of being married,” Brooks said, chuckling as he looked sideways at his wife.
Lucky for Brooks, Yearwood appeared not to take offense. The work they’re doing, she said, is vital.
“We’ve known since day one, it’s a great organization because it really is about the right thing — infrastructure in our country,” she said. “Should we help our homebuilding? That is such a priority in our minds. It’s a crisis.”
Monday, at St. Paul’s far northeast corner, the Grammy-winning power couple joined the kickoff of Habitat’s weeklong Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. The project will attract 4,000 volunteers to build 30 Habitat homes at the 112-acre mixed-use development. Habitat will build a total of 147 owner-occupied affordable homes and The Heights will eventually include 1,000 units of housing and 1,000 new jobs.

Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, said Brooks and Yearwood’s involvement in Habitat projects from Colorado to Florida, Canada to Haiti, provides an unmistakable boost to its efforts worldwide.
“It’s tremendously important,” he said. “In the same way that the world found out about Habitat because President and Mrs. Carter got involved as volunteers, starting their 40-year run with us, I think when people with huge social capital lend their celebrity, what happens is we get more media attention and we get awareness, and that allows more people to get involved.”
The Carter Work Project runs through Friday. Officials said more than 1,000 people will volunteer each day, 4,000 total. Yearwood and Brooks will be working right alongside them. On Monday, the site was abuzz with workers climbing scaffolding, framing walls and driving heavy equipment.