Meet the St. Louis ‘Extreme Makeover Home Edition’ family
The St. Louisans chosen for ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” are Dawn and Emmanuel Martirez of Shrewsbury. (Pictured: the scene this morning on the Martirez’ street, as photographed by a neighbor.)
Dawn is a pediatric cancer nurse. They have a daughter, Elle, and twin boys, Evan and Alec. According to the information released this morning:
“Evan has an extremely rare genetic condition called 9P minus, and Alec has another uncommon genetic disorder known as Crouzon Syndrome…. Both twins suffer from skeletal abnormalities that require extensive corrective facial and cranial surgeries, with Evan having physical handicaps and mental retardation and Alec being profoundly hearing impaired.”
Dawn Martirez had to give up her job to take care of the twins full time.
“As the boys get older, the home’s cramped narrow hallways, steep stairs, crumbling driveway and single, handicapped inaccessible bathroom are posing great problems for them and slowing their development. Now it is up to Ty (Pennington) and his designers to equip the Martirez’s home to accommodate the twins’ special needs.”
The “EMHE” team (including designers Paige Hemmis, Ed Sanders, Eduardo Xol and John Littlefield) will work with local builders Callier Thompson Shea Construction & Design LLC and Consolidated Construction Group Inc., plus hundreds of volunteers and workers. During the process, the Martirez family will go on vacation to Disney World.
@jimbo -
My point exactly. Habitat for Humanity does the same thing without all of the fanfare and obnoxious media coverage. EHME is just a money making machine for everyone involved.