Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Season 2, Episode 23: The Vitale Family

1

The Wofford Family

When Brian Wofford’s wife passed away four years ago, he dedicated himself to making it possible for his children to pursue their dreams. Today the kids are involved in lots of activities, including playing basketball and volunteering with their church. But playing the role of dad/basketball coach/chauffeur has left Brian little time to run his chiropractic practice. He has had to scale back his work hours to be available to his kids, and now struggles to make ends meet. The house repairs went unattended and, although he may be a master with his hands clinically, he admits that he is “all thumbs” when it comes to making home improvements. With the girls sharing a room where their beds are stacked on top of each other and the boys living in the partially converted garage/laundry room, adding more space to the house was a priority for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team. While the design team, contractors and over 150 workers transformed the Wofford house into a dream home in just seven days, Brian and his family -- Peter, 17, Rebekah, 16, 14-year-old twins Lizzie and Luke, Anna, 12, Aaron, 10, Esther, eight, and Elijah, six -- went on vacation to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, staying at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort and Spa. The finished house was built by a commercial builder who goes to church with the Woffords. He had never built a residence before, only commercial buildings. In addition to the thousands of well-wishers who welcomed the Woffords to their new home, U.S. Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton came by to give a helping hand.

60 min

2

The Garay Family

Veronica and Johnny have 4 kids. Once while Johnny's mother was visiting, she was killed by a gangster and Johnny was forced to take in his younger siblings. Social Services are threatening to take his younger siblings away if the house doesn't get fixed up. And of course, that's why the EMHE team is here.

60 min

3

The Pope Family

Shelby Pope is a 12 year old girl who is allergic to sun-light. The team sets out to make Shelby and the entire Pope family feel less like prisoners in their own home.

60 min

4

The Grinnan Family

A girl named Hannah has a weak immune system and had a heart transplant at only 11 days old. She has to take $1,000 medicine every day and that is what weakens her immune system. While the family vacations in San Diego, the team works hard to build a better home and environment for the Grinnan family. And surprise surprise! Lee Ann Womack performs at the end for the family!

60 min

5

The Mackey Family

A woman who runs an organization to help the needy lives in a very run-down and small house with family and extended family. The design team has a challenge ahead of them but gives a great home.

60 min

6

The Ali Family

Two boys, Paul and Kuran, were born to a crack-addicted mother. Lucy Ali adopted them as infants so she could give them a better life. As the boys were getting older, she decided it was time to expand the home. She gave a large sum of money to a contractor to add on, but he basically ran off with the money. Can EM:HE do what the con-artist didn't?

60 min

7

The Vardon Family

The Family: Mom (Deaf), Dad (Deaf), 12 year old boy (autistic/blind), 14 year old boy with a heart of gold. Everyone in the family has special needs (except the 14 year old) and the design team from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition steps in to make a change.

60 min

8

The Elcano Family

A few months ago, Jennier Elcano lost her husband, Glen, in an auto accident and has really had her hands full running the family farm and raising 11-year-old son Michael and 6-year-old daughter Ashley. Ty and the team come in to save the day. This episode's design team:Ty, Preston, Paul, Tracy & Constance.

60 min

9

The Burns Family

When Benjamin Burns was born in 1997, he was an apparently healthy baby boy. Six months later, Benjamin's sister was playing with her baby brother and, when he started to fall, she reached out to help him. But when she grabbed his arm, she unknowingly fractured it. In the weeks that followed, routine tasks performed by Benjamin's parents resulted in more visits to the hospital and led to the discovery that his arm had been re-injured and he had a fractured skull.Eventually, Child Protective Services was called and Benjamin was separated for three months from his parents, who were accused of child abuse. Nothing could have been further from the truth, and loving parents Gerald and Ellen Burns spent every resource they had trying to get their son back and prove their innocence. When it was finally diagnosed that Benjamin suffers from Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily, the Burns were cleared of the abuse charges and allowed to bring

60 min

10

The Broadbent Family

A courageous mother, Patricia Broadbent, has helped three of her adopted children and many others face AIDS with hope, teaching them that life is here for the living. Her own recent bout with cancer has only enforced that belief. In an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition -- How'd They Do That?," more of their touching story will be told, as well as the remarkable process of their home renovation in North Las Vegas.

60 min

11

The Dore Family

As a struggling widow of three daughters, Roseanne Dore is no stranger to hardship. The family was dealt a tremendous blow when their Kingston, Washington home, originally built by Roseanne and her husband, burned to the ground in March 2004. Following the devastating news of the fire, Roseanne found out that their home insurance policy lapsed when their agent retired. The structure was uninhabitable. While figuring out what to do, Roseanne moved her three daughters into a half-built, backyard utility shed that had no plumbing, electricity or running water.While living in the makeshift shelter, Roseanne's daughters - Jessica, 21, Sarah, 17 and Aariel, 13 -- went to friends' houses to shower. The entire family was stuck using an old doorless outhouse on the two-and-a-half acre property. One of the family's only wishes for their new home was to have indoor plumbing and bedrooms.When not cooking on an outdoor propane camp stove, these ladies took inside to the shed to prepare food. Desp

60 min

12

The Anderson Family

For the first time in the history of the popular reality series, design team leader Ty Pennington had to call the vacationing Anderson Family to tell them that the show had missed their deadline to complete the makeover on their home in South Central Los Angeles. In two back-to-back episodes, the team helps a young man whose potential as a professional basketball career was literally shot down. Despite the one day delay, some of the shine on his future, as well as that of his family's, has been restored, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team.

60 min

13

The Sears Family

Martinez, CA - The Sears family are given an extreme makeover. In February 2004 the 17-year old Jhyrve was diagnosed with a rare gen related disease. The team builds the family a new and sterile house.

60 min

14

The Correa/Medeiros Families

"Correa/Medeiros Families, Parts 1 & 2" - For the first time, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will stretch beyond one house and one family. Two families from Arvada, Colorado - who were homeless - received the opportunity to live in a ranch-style duplex built by the design team, in a two-hour show airing on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13 (7:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

60 min

15

The Harper Family

While design team leader Ty Pennington was preparing to film this episode in his hometown of Atlanta, he underwent emergency surgery for a perforated appendix. Although he was still recuperating, the energetic and dedicated Pennington did not want to let the family down. The episode incorporated his predicament into the show and captured how Ty was able to do his part from his hospital bed and later in the week, to participate in the reveal for the Harper Family from the Atlanta suburb of Lake City, Georgia. Patricia and Milton Harper worked hard and sacrificed for all the right reasons, but still could not achieve their dream of providing a real home for their children. After moving from the projects in Brooklyn, they wanted to give their sons Darius, 17, LaVaughn, 15, and seven-year-old Mister a safe haven to come home to every day. But the first-time homeowners didn't know they had just bought a big dump -- literally. Unaware of any problems when they purchased the home, the Harpers

60 min

16

The Harris Family

Six children live in a home that is falling apart. They need the EMHE's team to help them.

60 min

17

The Okvath Family

The crew decide to help out an eight year old girl suffering from cancer. However, she doesn't want her house made over, she wants to help her friends at her hospital by redecorating the wards there. The crew are so impressed by this, that they decide to rennovate her house without telling the family.

60 min

18

The Leomiti-Higgins Family

In 2004 the mother of Charles, Michael, Sharis, Joshua og Jeremiah Higgins died of breast cancer. 2 months later their father died of heart complications. Then the Leomiti family, right next door, took them all in, but now they're eleven in total. Can the team give them more space?

60 min

19

The Leslie Family

After a car crash claims the life of her husband and oldest son, the team makes over the Louisiana home of a widow and her three surviving boys, including a backyard playground built with help from Mat ``the Condor'' Hoffman

60 min

20

The Harvey Family

The Harvey family living in hurricane ravished Florida, are living in a termite infested home with water logged ceilings. Mr Harvey, having been diagnosed with adult epilepsy, cannot work. His wife has to pick up the burden by working 2 jobs. Mr Harvey works by helping his neighbors with odd jobs pro bono. His college age son moves back into the home to help with the bills. The Harveys apply to EM-HE and Ty Pennington and ABC come to the rescue

60 min

21

The Dolan Family

James Dolan, blinded during a shooting at an electronics store where he worked, receives a remodeling of his ranch house into a home more suitable to his needs.

60 min

22

The Johnson Family

Steve Johnson is a firefighter who helped to save a MAST firefighter from a terrible shooting in Kansas City, MO. The MAST firefighter is the one who nominated Steve to an Extreme Makeover.

60 min

23

The Vitale Family

The design team begins renovation work on a small, two-bedroom house in St. James, N.Y., for a widower and his three toddler boys.

60 min

24

The Piestewa Family

The Piestewa family are given an extreme makeover. Lori Piestewa was in Iraq and her dream was to build a house for herself and her parents. But unfortunately she was the first American woman who died in the war trying to save Jessica Lynch. Her parents now raise her two children. Can the design team get them out of the trailer and into a new house?

60 min