Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (season 6)

Four years ago, Felicia Jackson made a promise at her sister Cassandra's deathbed to keep all 10 of her nieces and nephews together. Before Cassandra died from complications from cancer, she told Felicia that she didn't want her children to split up, and Felicia vowed never to let that happen. With that one act of kindness in 2004, Felicia went from being a mother of four to a single mother of 14. She has been supporting all the children by working as a security guard at a mall. Unable to afford and find permanent housing, this family of 15 had been living in a hotel since December. Felicia was told that, if she doesn't find appropriate housing soon, she'll have to split the children up within the foster care system.^{[n 1]}

Ty secret project: Felicia's master bedroom.
Design team: Deidre, Ed, Eduardo, Michael, Paige, Paul, and Ty.

An Ohio family has two daughters, Brooke and Faith, who use wheelchairs because of spinal muscular atrophy. Brooke is a cheerleader at many sporting events in her community, and is much loved by the community for her determination and optimism in the face of danger. The house has a second story and is not wheelchair accessible.

Ty secret project: Brooke's bedroom.
Design team: Ed, Michael, Paige, Paul, and Ty.

Rochelle Anders, the mother, is a first grade teacher. She devotes much of her time to helping the community. She does all she can to help out the kids in her class, and is much loved in her community for it. Her husband Gary Beatty has died of a heart attack, and she has been unable to afford to make changes to her dilapidated home.

Ty secret project: Rochelle's master bedroom
Design team: Eduardo, John, Paige, Paul, and Ty

Alisha and Curtis King run the Step-by-step daycare, a non-profit center. They are very courteous about their job. They provide food, transportation, and clothing when needed. They ae much loved throughout their community for the way they take in their kids and care for him and generally for nothing. Their home as been tested for a severe mold infestation. Their daughter Laila has severe asthma and the mold is very dangerous for her.

Ty secret project: Step-By-Step Daycare
Design team: Deidre, Ed, Michael, Rib, and Ty.

The family's son Jobe was diagnosed with leukemia when he was four years old. He survived the struggle, but afterwards developed fungal pneumonia. While battling this, his lungs gave out and his heart stopped beating. He had to have a double lung transplant. He survived, but had a fragile immune system and uses a wheelchair. He is considered a hero because of his great strength and determination to survive. His house is infested with mold, which is life threatening to Jobe, and it was unlivable for the family. They are living in a rental home and they had no place to go.

Ty secret project: Rob and Tina's master bedroom.
Design team: Eduardo, Paige, Paul, Tracy, and Ty.

Tim Hill grew up in a rough neighborhood. However, he managed to stay out of the bad influences through the sport of boxing. When he grew up and started a family, he made sure that the underprivileged kids in his community would not fall under bad influences. He started a non-profit boxing program so that kids could come and stay off the streets. They are much loved in their community for the fact that they care enough about the kids to make sure they stay out of trouble. He even adopted Aleem, a boy who had grown up in a broken who had come to the boxing program to stay out of trouble. The gym that the program is run out of is in really bad shape. The Hill family's own home is also severely dilapidated and they could not afford to repair it.

Ty secret project: Tim and Michelle's master bedroom.
Design team: Diedre, Ed, John, and Michael.

Ty and his team head to Missouri for two makeovers. One is for a family whose twin sons, Evan and Alec, who suffer from birth defects. Evan and Alec's big sister, Elle is very helpful with all the things the family has to face. Evan suffers from 9P minus a disease that causes skeletal abnormalities, and Alec suffers from Crouzon's Syndrome, another rare disorder that causes hearing loss and cranial abnormalities. These boys are well known in their community for living out against all odds, being very happy, and the brotherly love that they show for each other. Evan walks with a walker, and the house that the family is living in has a second story and numerous obstacles that are not accessible to him. Elle helped get Evan around the house and helped with everything that their parents needed to do to take care of the boys. In addition they renovate a coffee shop for Sam Malek, a man with Cerebral Palsy that started this shop specifically to employ disabled people. It is not accessible to the employees because it is small, and the design team decide to help him with that.

Ty's secret project: Dawn and Emmanuel's master bedroom.
Design team: Ed, Eduardo, John, Paige, and Ty.

Aaron Frisch is a firefighter who puts his life on the line every day in an attempt to save a life. He is a hero in his community because of this. He also adopted five boys from Haiti and three more boys from Toledo that were living impoverished lives, turning their family of five into a family of thirteen. His wife Jackie has been diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a rare disease that causes damage to connective tissue. She has had to undergo numerous surgeries and has suffered numerous complications. As a result the family has been unable to afford to renovate their small dilapidated home.

Ty's secret project: Aaron and Jackie's master bedroom
Design team: Diedre, Michael, Paul, Rib, and Ty

The family's father, Tim, was a nurse who dedicated his life to saving the lives of others. He was also known for using his knowledge to teach advanced cardiac life support to various doctors, nurses, and paramedics. Tim was well known for his determination saving lives and helping various other nurses becoming more adept at their job. Tim however was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, a liver condition, and eventually died of it. His surviving family was left to live in a dilapidated house that they could not afford to repair.

Ty's secret project: Arlene's Master bedroom
Design team: Ed, Michael, Paige, Rib, and Ty

Susan DeVries, the mother, is a school bus driver who became a local elementary school's music teacher when they needed one. She has a rare disease known as ventricular tachycardia, which produces a racing heart rate that could lead to her death. Her dilapidated house has numerous problems that could agitate her condition, and they can not afford to fix those problems. Their father Dirk, lost his right arm in a farm accident.

Ty secret project: Dirk and Susan's master bedroom
Design team: Eduardo, John, Paul, Tracy, and Ty

Frank Slaughter grew up around bad influences and even spent a few days in the Allegheny County Jail for fighting. When he was released he changed his life. He even works in the same jail he was incarcerated in as a correctional officer. He is much loved in the jail for the way he cares for the inmates and instills morals and values into them. He and his family are living in a small dilapidated home that they cannot afford to repair.

Ty secret project: Frank and Tracy's master bedroom.
Design team: Eduardo, John, Paige, Paul, and Ty.

The Grys Family has been known to take in several foster kids with special needs. They have officially adopted three of them. Their youngest is eight-year-old Jake. He has osteogenesis imperfecta and also suffers from dwarfism. As a result, he is about the size of an eighteen-month-old and will not get much bigger. However he is well known in his community not only for his determination to survive, but for his bright, optimistic attitude. Unfortunately, the home that the family is living in has steps throughout, as well as hard floors (he even has to sleep in a dog bed), which could actually kill Jake. However the family cannot afford to renovate the home to accommodate Jake.

Ty secret project: Jake's Disney-themed bedroom.
Design team: Didayer, Ed, Michael, Rib, and Ty.

The Drumm Family has two sons, Donnie and Nathaniel, who both have autistic spectrum disorders. Their family however decide to devote their time two helping special needs kids. They run a baseball team called the PenMar Challengers which is designed especially for special needs children. This makes them well known in their community. Unfortunately they are living in a dilapidated house that was built on a trash site.

Ty secret project: Blasia and Matt's master bedroom.
Design team: Ty, Eduardo, John, Didayer, and Paul.

When Patrick Tutwiler was serving in Iraq, he was shot in the neck. He survived, but suffered a traumatic brain injury. Almost a year later, a tornado hit his home town. He saved his wife and four kids' lives by using his body as a shield against the winds, protecting them. The home however was destroyed, and they could not afford to repair. They have had to live in Fort Riley and have no other options.^{[n 1]}

Ty secret project: Patrick and Crystal's master bedroom.
Design team: Ed, Michael, Paige, Paul, and Ty.

The Girard family home was destroyed by fire while the Girards were less than one mile away volunteering at a church supper held at the town's volunteer firehouse. An insurance check sent to pay for the damages was kept by the mortgage company, which eventually went bankrupt. Ten months later, the father and eldest son drowned, leaving his wife and four children. A second bank took over the mortgage and began foreclosure proceedings on the family when bills went unpaid.

Ty's secret project- Carol's Master Bedroom

Ever since the family's youngest son Lane was born premature, the family has dedicated their life to photographing premature babies. Their home was destroyed in a flood and they can't afford to renovate it.

Ty's Secret Room: The family's new photo studio.

A heroic family reaches across the border to give to others—while letting their own house sit unfinished.

Twelve years ago Maria Ruiz and her family of El Paso, Texas, committed themselves to feeding the poor across the border in Juarez, Mexico and helping their local community.

It’s inspirational for us to hear that Maria, and her husband Jesus, travel across the border every day, bringing food, clothing and supplies to thousands. Between them, the two work multiple jobs in order to do this work—and in fact, Maria was recently named one of the “Top Ten CNN Heroes of 2008” for all of her foundation work.

We come to see that there has been a trade-off for all of this dedicated work to others—the Ruiz family home sits unfinished. The construction that began over 12 years ago was stopped dead for the charitable work—as all resources and family efforts have been directed to helping others instead. As a result, we’re shocked to see the house tilting in on itself, the exposed plywood floors, cracks in floors and walls, and to top it all off... the house lacks heat.

Additionally, the food bank work has taken over the house—but the living room is overflowing due to lack of storage, and the kitchen itself is woefully inadequate.

The family lost two children, one to domestic violence and another to a drunk driver. Now they help raise awareness of these crimes, help the victims of it and raise their three grandchildren whowere orphaned as the result of it.

In Tallahassee, Florida, Barbra and her husband George adopted six children from China. Two had seeing and hearing disabilites, one was born with bones missing from his hand and a girl who had been abandoned when she was young, along with the one child they already had. George was a dentist at a prison while Barbra worked as a teacher's aid. George was diagnosed with brain cancer. After chemo and surgery, the cancer came back. He was forced to quit his job and the family of nine had to live on disability and whatever money Barbra could get being a teacher's aid, which was not enough to cover all of the family's expenses. The night before the camera crew got to the location, George was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. He had lost his vision and was placed in intensive care. Three days after the Kadzises got their new home, George Kadzis died. At the end of the show, a quick video was shown of George, made up from clips from the family's application video, and an "In Memory of..." graphic at the end of the video.
Award: Most touching episode
Design Team: Eduardo, Ty, John, Paul, and Tracy

Jeff Cooper, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, returned from Iraq with Gulf war syndrome, leaving him needing to use a wheelchair. He became a volunteer and spokesman for Disabled American Veterans. His disabilities left him unable to enjoy his home, which was also falling apart. Cooper (who came from a family line of veterans dating back to the American Civil War) and his family visited Washington, D.C.. In addition, CVS/Pharmacy donated $40,000 to the Greenville, North Carolina DAV post. His son Aaron lost his right arm in an accident after being run over by a garbage truck.
Design Team: Ed, Ty, Michael, and Paige

The Cerda’s scenario is an extraordinary one: their two daughters suffer from such a severe immune deficiency that their house itself is a life-threatening danger.

Molly and Maggie Cerda were each diagnosed with Combined Immune Deficient Disease (CIDD) when they were just three years old. This disease is so intense that even a simple cold can be a disaster. We can’t even begin to imagine what it’d be like to have to stay inside to avoid germs at all costs, and often even wear masks in our own homes!

Both of their parents are strong community supporters—their father Chuck works for Homeland Security, while Terri, their mother, has worked all her life in global relief—organizing search and rescue dog services for worldwide disaster. Additionally, you discover that Terri has founded “Artful Hearts,” a group which helps improve the lives of sick children by painting murals in clinics and hospitals, trying to bring cheer to those undergoing treatments. We’re surprised to find that Terri has also found the time to be a patient advocate for the Immune Deficiency Foundation, and has met with senators to influence laws governing medications.

This family has given so much to their community, and yet struggled with their own home. We see the details of how their house was unknowingly in poor condition when they first bought it, and through a series of floods, severe water damage set in. We find it heartbreaking to hear that structural engineers had advised them to gut the house and rebuild—thankfully Ty and the designers have arrived to give a lending hand!

Through the power of books, one man aims to spark the imagination of the local kids in his community. But we discover that he and his own boys are residing in appalling conditions.

Our special two-part season finale takes us to Indianapolis, Indiana, where we meet another everyday hero, Bernard McFarland, whose deteriorating house will be rebuilt from the ground up—with help from Ty and the gang, and a strong cast of blue-shirted volunteers.

We learn that starting when he was young, librarian Bernard learned the power of books and the weight of words. Although he grew up poor and overcame obstacles that we can’t begin to imagine, he graduated from college, joined the military and later returned home to his three sons.

Back in Indianapolis, Bernard was determined not to accept the troubled community around him. His mission: to reduce both the rising violence in the neighborhood and the number of kids dropping out of school. We discover that he founded Pack House 2000, a program dedicated to expanding dreams of youngsters by forming reading groups and organizing field trips to libraries, museums and cultural events throughout the city. All of this, we learn, he managed to make happen with very limited resources.

We see throughout the episode that Bernard is an important part of his community, but has been unable to take care of his own home. We shudder at seeing the holes throughout the ceilings, walls and floors, the water damage in the sub-flooring, and the rusting pipes, corroded wiring and crumbling drywall. And our hearts can’t help but to go out to his three boys, who all share one room.