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The Extreme Home Makeover Team Helps The Martinez Family
April 27, 2008 07:09 PM by DA Southern
Gerald Martinez moved his family of six from Colorado to New Mexico, where he had already spent a lot of time helping out in the troubled community of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Martinez and his wife, Liesa, and their four kids, Alie, Levi, Maggie Jean and Bethany, moved into a run-down duplex that was just minutes from the church they moved to New Mexico pastor. Martinez realized that the duplex the family moved to was very close to very unsavory elements of the community as was the Church, but he saw their mission as one of hope to a troubled community.
Gerald Martinez was appreciated by many in the community as he attempted to clean the crime-ridden area that housed the church they served. However, Martinez attracted his share of disgruntled people in the area even to the point of being attacked by gang members in front of his own house.
Ty Pennington and designers Michael Moloney, Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis and Ed Sanders blew into town, well at least Ty did in a hot air balloon, to put an end to the Martinez family’s desperate home situation as they set their sights on the seven day task of putting the family into a new home and the completion of a building used for a mission for the troubled community.
Ty and the gang rolled up at 8:03 AM and you know that it was rare that a massive bus like the Extreme crew rides in is seldom seen in the streets of this community, so it could not be a secret that they were there. The family routed the Extreme gang with love and after the hugs, Ty got down to business with the family telling them they were off to Disney World in Orlando.
Before the family left, Ty and the designers met with the family to assess what they needed and to look at the home they lived in and the mission that the Martinez family ran. The design team not only was taking on the family home and a mission but was in fact demolishing a complete block of dilapidated homes that were being used for squatters.
Michael was with wife, Liesa, as she showed him the conditions of the family home and saw that the family was being strained by the constant demands on their time and no real privacy.
Paul was with son, Levi, and discovered that he liked some sort of extreme urban, dancing, moving type of sport while Ed visited with the two girls and discovered that Bethany was an artist and Maggie Jean was into Stomp dancing. Wow, these crazy kids and their new-fangled fads. Hey you kids, you get off my lawn. Sorry,I digressed,back to the Extreme team.
Paige was with older daughter, Alie, and saw that she was really stuck in a little girl’s room and needed a more mature space and Ty had his final walk-about with Gerald and saw his passion for the community-at-large. As the limo pulled away taking the family to Disney World, Ty explained that the team would actually renovate the mission space and completely build two new spaces, which would be a true Extreme Makeover.
Day 2 started bright and early at 8:42 AM with the hundreds of volunteers and builders, Atreus Homes & Communities, arriving for the massive build. Ty manned the video camera for the vacationing Martinez family to show them the crew assembled for the build. The demo started and the family laughed as Ty held up a sign with numbers on it showing how many houses were being demolished. Then Ty shocked the family by showing the family the complete destruction of the row of dilapidated homes that Gerald hoped would be torn down one day. In total, there were twelve demolitions that completely cleared out the neighborhood.
The morning of Day 3 started for us at 9:10 AM and found the massive project in full swing as Michael raced around to show us the progress that had been made so far. There was so much going on that it was hard to imagine the work would be completed in time. The project was so big that Ty even had a first-ever aerial map of the community to show the scope of the project.
Michael was seen working on a scale version of the Eiffel Tower for Bethany’s room and Paul was off to see some extreme, urban, dancing, hard-core guys and followed them around as they jumped around on all kinds of public property. We used to call that playing outside when I was a kid, but, who knew.
We saw Day 3 once again at around 4:20 PM and our tour guide Michael was showing us the progress. It was actually nice to see a building that was not a total disaster being renovated for a change as the old family home was being turned into the Mission building. Paul was setting up the room for Levi for his urban dancing sport and Paige was hard at work on the Paris-inspired room for Alie.
Ty finally revealed his secret project as he returned to the family’s former homestead to get an idea of what they left behind and decided to incorporate it into the build for Gerald and Liesa’s new master bedroom. Poor Ed was seen in Las Vegas to do “Research” for Maggie Jean’s Stomp-inspired bedroom by going to a Las Vegas Casino that ran the Stomp show every night. Ed was thrilled to experience the different aspects of the show and was presented with a couple of garbage can lids from the actual show,No, that really is a good thing.
Day 4 greeted our tender eyes at 10:21 AM and saw Paige giving us the update on the progress so far. Paul showed us the structure of the new Martinez family home and we had a glimpse of the work that Michael was putting into the new massive kitchen that Liesa used to feed many of the community’s homeless people.
Ty called the designers over and told them that they still needed to feed the homeless that the Martinez family did every Sunday and off they went to do the work of the people. Jessie, the owner of Atreus Homes & Communities, told the family that they would be providing additional job training for the community and would be hiring from within the community.
Our first Ty-larious moment came during the credits at the end of the first hour when Ty was tearing up an area by throwing tools and wood everywhere and using a blowing hose to blow dirt into the food that Paul was eating. Come on, that was funny.
Ed was our tour guide on Day 5 at 11:35 AM as he showed us the 3500 square foot home that had been built for the family and the newly refurbished community center. The details were seen coming in as the build was slowly coming to fruition as we saw Ty carrying in some wood for his secret project and some of the furniture was seen coming in as well.
Ed actually had a Ty-larious moment as he had all of the workers perform a Stomp-like moment with the various tools and wood the crew was using for the build and Paul was seen performing with the crew with a drilling tool. Michael called the family on vacation to tell them to paint a picture for the new house and the family immediately went into action and was inspired to do a painting called “Dreams Come True.”
Day 6 came early at 9:29 AM as the massive project was winding down with still a lot of work that looked to be done. Paul showed the urban dance room progress for Levi that was being completed and the Paris-inspired room finishing touches were being applied for Alie. Ty sent Paige and Ed to Sears for the tools for Gerald’s garage and Michael was seen at a local artist for help with the tile painting for the family’s kitchen. Paul went for a ride in the Police car, not because he was in trouble, but to tour the community with a Police Commander to better understand what the Martinez family had sought to change.
Family Home Day arrived with scores of volunteers and community folks lining the streets waiting for the Martinez family. The family arrived and the tears were streaming as soon as the family left the limo. Ty and the family shouted, “Move That Bus” and the massive structures were revealed and the family was on their knees in humility.
Ty sent them in and every member of the Martinez family sobbed as they looked at the beautiful Southwestern home. Ty was in and pointed out the fine details of the home. Gerald Martinez even said that “Every little bit of the house was his favorite part” when Ty asked if he liked the home.
Ty sent them all to see the rest of the home and son, Levi, was first into his urban dance-inspired room and loved it. Daughter, Maggie Jean, was next into her Stomp-inspired room and it was definitely “Da Bomb” as American Idol’s, Randy Jackson, would say. Daughter, Bethany, screamed with delight when she entered her Paris-inspired room as it was definitely a true Paris cafà feeling. The oldest, Alie, entered her more “Grown-Up” room and immediately felt its charm and Gerald and Levi went into the Garage and saw the massive tool display provided by Sears.
Ty showed Gerald and Liesa their new Master Bedroom and were again humbled at the amount of detail that Ty had put into the room to make it a peaceful environment for them. Ty finally took the family to the newly renovated community center and the family was shocked to see the amenities that had been used to furnish the area for the people of the community that they sought to serve.
Ty took the family out for the final meet-and-greet with the design team and to give us the final saying, “Welcome home, Martinez family, welcome home” and Gerald Martinez was seen saying that “Dreams do come true.”
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Photo Courtesy of ABC
Topics: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition |
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