Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC

By Ally Matteodo

Ty Pennington and his team once again brought viewers the Best TV Show of the Week on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which aired October 19^th at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.  This season the theme is heroes, and the team scours the country for those families who live up to the name. 

This past week the King family was chosen as the recipient of the home makeover due to their selfless generosity.  Alisha King, the matriarch of the family, grew up as a single teenage mother who depended upon her family and friends for help.  However, Alisha now gives back by running a day-care center out of her own home. A major mold infestation had overtaken the house, threatening Alisha’s asthmatic daughter Laila, as well as all the children and families who depend upon the King family’s safe haven for children with working parents. Given the King’s generosity – they are always willing to work out financial or scheduling problems with their customers, and one woman commented that Alisha never turned her down --  it was clear that this nurturing, loving nature makes the King family heroic.

Once again Ty and the team did an impeccable job in renovating the house.  They recruited Rich Merlini as the builder, a man whose housing business was affected by the mortgage crisis and who was also experiencing rough times.  The fact that he threw all of his skill and knowledge into this job while down on his luck is inspiring.  Ty mentioned that since Alisha and her family play such an important role for other families in the community, it’s clear that by helping them, he’s helping far more people as well.  The new daycare center the designers created is stunning, complete with a crafts table, refrigerator, microwave, and reading shelf.  While the King family is gone on vacation in Puerto Rico, the designers also held a huge and highly successful clothing drive, since Alisha likes to accumulate hand-me-downs for those children whose families don’t have enough money to buy new clothes.

Simple but deep truths were spotlighted in this program: It is better to give then to receive, and when you give others love and kindness, you will reap rewards far greater than a home makeover.  You will reap love and trust wherever you may go -- and your life will be richer and happier because of these things.