Space City Parent Magazine goes extreme!
Our family here at Space City Parent Magazine is proud to announce our sponsorship and cooperation with Blu Shields Construction and ABC’s reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The show has teamed up with Blu Shields Construction to provide a Kemah area family with a much needed home. Michele Metts, Sales Manager for Space City Parent Magazine, is proud to help on such a project. “I think it’s wonderful anytime that we can be active in the community”, says Metts.
As a magazine, we recognize we always have a presence in the community, but this is a unique chance to focus on one deserving family. Space City Parent Magazine, Fort Bend Parent Magazine, and Katy Parent Magazine are all great resources for finding family oriented businesses and services in their community. Now, with the help of the community and other contributing businesses, Space City Parent Magazine is pleased to show our appreciation and excited to give our support to the kind of families that make our city great.
Read the articles below to find out how you can get involved or visit the Blu Shields Extreme website for more information and updates on the project:
Blu Shields Extreme
ABC’s news coverage of the Beach Family:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/entertainment&id=7206082
January 7, 2010
NEWS FLASH: FAMILY IN KEMAH, TEXAS GETS SURPRISE OF THEIR LIFE!
TY PENNINGTON AND THE “EXTREME MAKEOVER:HOME EDITION” TEAM COME KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF THE BEACH FAMILY!
Congratulations to the Beach family getting brand new home!
Houston, TX Bay Area (January 7, 2010) – Ty Pennington and the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television crew paid an unexpected visit to Larry and Melissa Beach and their 13 children this morning as they pulled into their driveway at 1013 Delesandri Lane in Kemah (Galveston, County) TX to deliver the exciting news. The Beach family was ecstatic to learn that they were the recipients of a brand new home to be completed and move–in ready in seven days. The show will air in March.
Extreme Blood Drive
On January 14th the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center will be in the parking lot of the Kemah Visitor’s Center at 603 Bradford in Kemah. The Houston Bay Area is up to the challenge of beating any previous blood donation records associated with EM:HE and encourages everyone to come out and give the gift of life. Additional blood drives will be held at the following locations:
Monday, January 11th City of Dickinson at 4403 Hwy 3 from 8:00am-6:00pm.
Wednesday, January 13th Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership University of Houston – Clear Lake Delta Building 2700 Bay Area Blvd. from 8:00am-6:00pm.
For further information, please call 281-534-8836.
Extreme Food Drive
Also, Interfaith Caring Ministries will be on hand, at the Kemah Visitor’s Center at 603 Bradford in Kemah, collecting non–perishable items for a food drive Jan. 9 – 14 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Items needed: Canned meat, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, cookies, juices, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, toothpaste, size 5 diapers, and baby wipes.
About the Family
The home will be completed in 106 hours by a team of vendors and volunteers lead by Blu Shields Construction, and will be designed to fit the needs of the Beach family. In 23 years of marriage, Larry, 40 and Melissa, 40; have fostered over 85 children that other adoption agencies were not able to place. They have four biological children and nine adopted children. They include Chris (23,), Michael (21), Jose (20), Mikala (18), Paul (14), Faith (13), Hope (9), Justin (8), Jacob (4), Grace (4), Jeremiah (23 months), Mercy (22 months) and Cody (19) currently serving in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan. During the last 12 years, they have fostered approximately 85 children, but decided to start adopting after seeing that so many were not being placed in homes.
Due to water damage from Hurricane Ike, the Beach family home is unlivable and they are residing in a travel trailer on their property. Therefore, they have been unable to adopt additional children. But all that is about to change!!
Project Lead PR , Chiquita Taylor says that an amazing number of people have registered as volunteers and donations are still coming in; our community is really pulling together.
Please visit www.blushieldsextreme.com for more information.
Extremely needed
With nine foster children and four of their own, a Kemah family has been living out of their backyard since Hurricane IkeBy MARY VUONG
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 7, 2010, 11:03PM
Michael Paulsen Chronicle
Melissa Beach talks with host Ty Pennington as the crew from ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition delivers the good news Thursday that the Kemah family will get a new eight-bedroom home.
Birthday surprises don’t get much sweeter than this.
Thursday, the day Melissa Beach turned 40, the cast and crew of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition arrived on her doorstep with a new house — or at least the promise of one.
Host Ty Pennington and designers Tracy Hutson, Michael Moloney and Paul DiMeo of the popular ABC reality show are in Kemah for the next week to build Beach, husband Larry and their kids a home perfectly suited to their needs.
The experience so far, Beach said, has been “amazing. Is it really real?”
The Beaches have four biological and nine adopted children, including several with special needs: Chris, 23; Michael, 21; Jose, 20; Cody, 19; Mikala, 18; Paul, 14; Faith, 13; Hope, 9; Justin, 8; Jacob, 4; Grace, 4; Jeremiah, 23 months; and Mercy, 22 months.
The couple have been married for 23 years and been foster parents to more than 85 children. Larry, a lineman for Centerpoint Energy, and his wife are eager for a big house that can accommodate any other kids who may come into their lives.
Melissa, who home-schools some of her children, also hopes the new digs will include a classroom and decent kitchen.
‘They deserve this’
After Hurricane Ike, the Beaches moved from their damaged home at 1013 Delesandri Lane into two FEMA trailers, parked in front of their house. Last fall, they moved to the backyard, into an 18-foot travel trailer with one toilet. The hot water tank held just 6 gallons, and they had to make frequent visits to the laundromat and cook on a gas grill.
“They’re a young, cool family,” Hutson said. “They clearly need a lot of space.”
“They deserve this,” Moloney added.
Local builder Blu Shields Construction is overseeing the project. Because the house is considered a complete donation, the family will not be responsible for a mortgage or property taxes, said Patrick Henderson, CEO of Energy Solution Homes, Blu Shields’ parent company. The first year of utilities also is included.
6,340 square feet
The Beaches knew they were one of five local families nominated for the show, but Thursday’s “door knock” made it official. The “reveal” is scheduled for next Thursday, when they’ll come home to a 6,340-square-foot, two-story house with eight bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms. The episode is scheduled to air in March.
Plans for the home include an elevator, therapy room and rooftop solar panels. The house will be built to meet standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, with wide doorways and bathrooms spacious enough for a wheelchair.
The cast and crew of 70 isn’t thrilled about the chilly weather ahead, but they can deal with it. “We can handle cold,” Hutson said.
Each of the 25 homes that the show builds per year typically attracts 3,000 to 4,000 volunteers, so they’ll have plenty of help.
The Beaches will vacation at Disney World, courtesy of the show, while their home is under construction. When she returns, Melissa Beach is looking forward to more space — and a nice, long bath.
mailto:mary.vuong@chron.com |
