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11.06.2008 3:17 pm

Remember, St. Louis ‘Extreme Makeover’ airs Sunday

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Ty Pennington with the Martirez family.

Ty Pennington with the Martirez family.

Nov. 9 is still the date for the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” installment shot here in September. The hour, which combines the Martirez makeover in Shrewsbury with the re-do of Sam Malek’s coffee shop in Manchester, airs at 7 p.m. on ABC (Channel 30).

Here is the full ABC description of the episode:

“Martirez / Malek Families” — Ty and the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” designers will be visiting both St. Louis and Ballwin, Missouri to give Dawn Martirez a safer home for her special-needs children, and to remodel Sam Malek’s coffee shop that employs disabled individuals and donates a portion of its earnings to charity. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” airs SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Dawn Martirez was a beloved and dedicated pediatric cancer nurse who cared for terminally ill children all her life. Little did she know that her medical experience would prepare her for the care of her own children. After she and her husband, Emmanuel, had their daughter, Elle, she became pregnant again with twins Evan and Alec. Evan has an extremely rare genetic condition called 9P minus, and Alec has another uncommon genetic disorder known as Crouzon Syndrome. Even though the doctors warned of severe complications, Dawn refused to terminate the pregnancy. 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 had to stop working as a nurse in order 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’s up to Ty and his designers to equip the Martirez’s home to accommodate the twins’ special needs.

Sam Malek has endured 29 surgeries for his cerebral palsy over the past 40 years, beating the odds so many times. In April of 2007, he took out a second mortgage on his home to purchase a small coffee shop that insists on their motto, “Helping Challenged People One Cup at a Time.” At “More Than Coffee,” Sam employs disabled individuals to help him in the shop and donates a portion of the profits to local charities. However the condition of the shop makes it hard for him and his employees to work, for its cramped space, termite infestation and lack of proper equipment hinder their potential. Ty and his designers will have to step up to the challenge of making over Sam Malek’s shop while working on the Martirez home at the same time.

While Ty and the designers, local builder is Callier Thompson Shea Construction & Design, LLC, Consolidated Construction Group Inc and hundreds of volunteers and workers are rebuilding, the Martirez and Malek families will go on vacation to Disneyworld.

The design team for this episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will feature team leader Ty Pennington and designers Paige Hemmis, Ed Sanders, Eduardo Xol and John Littlefield. The series is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It’s executive-produced by Anthony Dominici. David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.

10 comments

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Should be a great show. Hope all is going well for the folks inhabiting the new places.

— Phil
10:06 am November 9th, 2008

God bless you all!

— Jimm
2:55 pm November 9th, 2008

I am already tearing up and the show’s only 5 minutes old! The little boys are so cute. What a neat family.
Sam Malek is in my parish. He deserves all the good he gets for as much a he Say what you will cynical world. This is how miracles happen - one small step at a time!

— Ballwin Resident
7:10 pm November 9th, 2008

I too have teared up a few times duing this episode. I live just south of stl and work in the city. I will stop in and get some coffee. What an inspiration.

— Rick
7:32 pm November 9th, 2008

We just watched the show - wow what in inspiration! Does anyone know the exact location of the coffee shop? We are unable to find an address online. We drink a lot of coffee and would like to give our business to a place like this. Thanks.

— RLZ
8:21 pm November 9th, 2008

The address of the coffee shop is
More Than Coffee at 14240 Manchester Road, just east of Route 141.

— stlouisreader
8:24 pm November 9th, 2008

The website for the coffee shop is http://www.morethancoffee.biz.. or try morethancoffee.net… I think the first one works & is the one I have pulled up. I live in Il. & would love to meet Sam, he seems like a great man doing something for a great cause. : )

— Melissa
8:29 pm November 9th, 2008

The Web address is http://www.morethancoffee.net. Please support Sam and his mission. He is an inspiration to us all and a shining example of doing the little things every day to make a difference in the lives of others.

— Carol Sheahan
9:13 pm November 9th, 2008

Great episode, only one question… why fly all the way to Columbus when we have the best zoo ever here?
On the other hand, I need to go rehydrate from crying too much.

— majigail
10:06 pm November 9th, 2008

Great episode,but why fly all the way to Columbus when we have the best zoo ever here?

— Dana
1:58 pm November 11th, 2008