Volunteers build dream house

‘ ‘ ‘ When I arrived at Grandview Avenue last Saturday, the narrow Penn Hills street was filled… ‘ ‘ ‘ When I arrived at Grandview Avenue last Saturday, the narrow Penn Hills street was filled with trucks and construction equipment. ‘ ‘ ‘ Commotion centered around a small brick and wood house, white paint peeling off the sides because of water and tornado damage. A broken bench sat on the creaky front porch. Inside, cramped rooms hosted art supplies and old furniture. Upstairs were two small bedrooms. One, decorated with an aging strip of wallpaper depicting a bustling cartoon city street, contained toys and bunk beds. The hallway was lined with a soiled green carpet, leading to the home’s single, tiny bathroom. ‘ ‘ ‘ The house was in desperate need of a makeover ‘mdash;an ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ to be exact. ‘ ‘ ‘ The tiny house belongs to Frank and Tracy Slaughter and their five children. The Slaughters have long devoted their lives to helping others, and at 10 a.m. last Friday, team leader Ty Pennington and the rest of his ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ crew informed the family that, finally, someone would be helping them. ‘ ‘ ‘ Frank, once incarcerated for a few days at Allegheny County Jail, now works at the facility as a corrections officer. He started a rehabilitation program for inmates to assist with pre-release job security so they can make money to pay for child support. Lance Bohn, a professor of deviance and the law at Pitt and the deputy warden at the prison said of Frank: ‘He’s a very nice man, very professional. His heart is into his work.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Tracy, who once served in the Navy, has the same giving mentality. She mentors single mothers and takes care of children and elderly community members. ‘She’s got this aura around her,’ said neighbor Martin Mark. ‘She can take a mad person and make them great. Everyone knows her. She’s wonderful. She deserves this ‘mdash; she’s always out there helping other people.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ABC’s Emmy Award-winning ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ features a team of designers, contractors and builders constructing a house from scratch in just seven days. Approximately 25 families in need are selected each season to have their lives changed by the crew. ‘ ‘ ‘ Construction company Montgomery ‘amp; Rust is donating its services to the project. Firm principal Mark Rust cited scheduling demands as one of the biggest challenges. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘A schedule that is usually measured in months is condensed to days. It’s a 24/7 operation,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We were called out of the blue. We were surprised but excited and decided pretty quickly that we wanted to do it.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The success of the show relies heavily on volunteers. In order to stick to the grueling schedule, builders need as much help as they can get. ‘ ‘ ‘ Many of Saturday’s helping hands belonged to Pitt students. As part of the inaugural Pitt Make a Difference Day, 46 students were sent to the site. Most were Tower A Engineering floor residents and members of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. ‘ ‘ ‘ Dressed in baggy blue ‘Extreme Makeover’ T-shirts, volunteers spent the day packing the family’s belongings, dragging away shrubbery and peeling labels off of bottles of sports drinks so the beverages could appear on camera. ‘ ‘ ‘ Rob McCarney, a senior at California University of Pennsylvania majoring in communication studies, jumped on the opportunity to work at the site after an e-mail searching for volunteers was sent from the school. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This is the second time I’ve worked with ‘Extreme Makeover,’ and I’ve found it to be the most worthwhile volunteer experience I’ve ever done,’ said McCarney. ‘I take pride because I can say, ‘I put the back door of the house in.” ‘ ‘ ‘ Heidi Zimmerman, a junior psychology student and the vice president of operations of Pitt’s Alpha Epsilon Phi, had a similarly good experience. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It feels good to give back to the community that’s given us so much,’ she said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Although the group missed the chance to meet Ty Pennington ‘mdash; production coordinator Steven Ponces explained, ‘The show films two locations at once, so Ty has to travel back and forth all week’ ‘mdash; they still enjoyed the experience. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It was worth waking up early,’ said Pitt engineering freshman Yan Lu. Andy Gamertsfelder, a freshman business student, agreed. ‘My floor is going to be so jealous.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The volunteers are great,’ said designer John Littlefield, who landed on the show after stints with the Discovery Channel. ‘ ‘ ‘ Littlefield, a Temple graduate, said, ‘It feels great to be back in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh’s funny, though, man. I’ll take a cheese steak over coleslaw and French fries in my sandwich any day.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Littlefield, who got his master of fine arts degree in theater, may not have been swayed by the city’s culinary offerings, but he was impressed by the people. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s a great family, great community. Everything’s going really smoothly.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The community demonstrated its enthusiasm when a fan rushed up to Littlefield during our interview exclaiming, ‘I watch every Sunday! You guys are great!’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Though Littlefield couldn’t report many details about the interior of the house, he did hint he’d be decorating 10-year-old Michael’s room. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘He loves robots, I’ll say that,’ he revealed.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Also on site were designers Paige Hemmis, Eduardo Xol and Paul DiMeo, a Point Park graduate. ‘ ‘ ‘ When I returned to the house on Wednesday, on day six of construction, the building was completely transformed. The Slaughter residence towered above neighboring homes. Crew members bustled inside and out, finishing electrical work and installing appliances. The once 1650-square-foot house was now 3200 square feet with five bedrooms, three full baths and two powder rooms. ‘ ‘ ‘ Today at 2 p.m. the Slaughter family will be welcomed back from its Disney World vacation to its new home as fans and friends yell, ‘Move that bus!” ‘ ‘ ‘ Of the near 360,000 people who applied for the makeover, the Slaughters certainly deserved the recognition. ‘ ‘ ‘ Tears formed in neighbor Sue Mark’s eyes as she assured, ‘This couldn’t have happened to better people.’