OMG! I know the family who's getting an EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION in Michigan!

[pw2pp]

I was sitting here watching the news and they started talking about a family in Oak Park, Michigan who are getting their home made over on EXTREME MAKEOVER, HOME EDITION and when they showed the family, I was in total shock!
The father of the family is the brother of the 2 girls that were my Best Friends (twins) from 7th grade through High School and a few years after. I knew the family very well and used to always sleep over their house.

Here is their story:
BOTH parents are deaf (they met at a college for the Deaf in New York - I went with my 2 girlfriends to visit them at college like 25 years ago) and one of their sons is blind AND autistic. Their other son (14 years old) has no disabilities and apparently gave them the idea to apply to Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

I am SO happy for them, they have been dealt a very difficult hand and they deserve this SO much.

I had to just tell you all because I am so shocked and happy for them.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

Just saw that on the news today....I was so excited that they were in MI....that is so cool you know them too......

I actually just got off the phone with my friend saying I wanted to take a ride there on Monday....to hopefully get a glimpse of Ty!!!!!

 

[Kitty 34]

How cool for them!!!

 

[dizneenut]

That's so wonderful for them!

 

[Margie J]

Excellent!

That show is terrific and selects very deserving families.

 

[kimber79]

How awesome is that!

 

[Lars624]

Ty's gonna be here in Michigan?????
Be still my heart

 

[Twinkles6892]

Originally posted by Lars624
Ty's gonna be here in Michigan?????
Be still my heart

 

[pw2pp]

They just showed it on the news again.
Apparently, the crew just showed up today (with the big truck and everything) and JUST gave the news to the family (that they were chosen). The family had to immediately pack their bags and they were taken away in a Limo to go to Macinaw Island for the week.
Demolition will begin on Saturday.

 

[Mimi Q]

That is so cool. Sounds like a deserving family.

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Super-cool! I'll admit, I'm not a big one for shows that are tear-jerkers, but I really enjoy this one. Can't wait to see this episode!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I used to live in Michigan about 19 years ago! That's great news for a deserving family. I think Ty is quite hot....

 

[minniecarousel]

It's really special when it's in your own "backyard" and you know the family. When they were in nearby Livermore for the family of 8 children, the local news was all over it! (Plus - we had all heard about the sadness in the kids' lives last summer, losing both parents & the work that needed to be done on the house. Couple that with the fact that the 2 oldest moved back home, and the kids didn't want to use the parent's room - they were pretty sqashed in that house.)

It's cool that they find such deserving families.

 

[ZachnElli]

How great for them! I love that show!

 

[*Fantasia*]

That's really cool! I grew up in Oak Park. I wonder which house is that? My parents are still living in Oak Park and so as my MIL.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

thats awesome..i love that show....now whos gonna get a close up pic of ty

 

[pw2pp]

Here is a pic and the article in the Detroit Free Press (online edition)

TV design team comes knocking in Oak Park

August 6, 2004

BY JOE GUY COLLIER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Stefan Vardon, a 14-year-old from Oak Park, wrote an essay for extra credit at school earlier this year about his family.

Both of his parents, Larry and Judy Vardon, are deaf. His younger brother, Lance, 12, is blind and autistic. But Stefan wanted people to know he has a loving family that made him proud.

On Thursday, that essay helped the Vardons land the jackpot: a visit from ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," a reality TV show that remodels a family's home each episode.

The show's design team, led by star Ty Pennington, knocked on the Vardons' door around 7 a.m. In less than a week, they'll redo the brick, 980-square-foot home,adding communications and safety devices for people with hearing loss.

"I was shocked," said Stefan, who opened the door Thursday. "I was amazed. I was out of breath."

Stefan's mother was overwhelmed. A few months ago, Judy Vardon waited in line for four hours at Sears to turn in Stefan's essay as part of the show's application.

Judy Vardon does volunteer work teaching braille and sign language to blind and deaf children. Larry Vardon is a welder for Chrysler Group.

The producers of the show had called the Vardons to find out more information, but the family didn't know until Thursday that they had been chosen.

"I wanted to scream, but I couldn't," Judy Vardon said through a sign language interpreter.

After a few hours of taping for the show, the Vardons were whisked away to Mackinac Island for a vacation while the Home Makeover team laid groundwork for the task ahead.

The area around the home was cordoned off. About 100 people gathered at the corner of Gardner and Labelle, just off 11 Mile, to catch a glimpse of what was going on. They reached over metal barricades to snag autographs from the design team.

Eight-year-old Sarah Tomkowiak of Oak Park had an autograph from Pennington scrawled across her hand.

"Everybody loves Ty," she said. "He's the coolest."

In the next few days, a marvel of modern remodeling will unfold before the eyes of the neighborhood.

A job that normally takes four to six months will be completed in less than six days, said Adam Helfman, president of Southfield-based Fairway Construction Co.

Fairway is the local generalcontractor for the job, overseeing hundreds of local trade workers.

This mad scramble to redo a home has become a regular routine for the show's design team. The show is in its second season. The makeover of the Vardon home should air this fall.

The home makeovers are a challenge, but the effort always pays off, said Michael Moloney, an interior designer with the show.

The homes selected for the show usually involve a family with a special need.

In the past, the show has remodeled homes for a soldier returning from Iraq, two New York City firefighters, a couple expecting triplets and a family of eight children who lost their parents.

Moloney said he looks forward to helping the Vardons.

"They're proud," Moloney said. "We're just going to make their life easier."