One family in Rhode Island, inadvertently exposed to lead paint poisoning in their own house, is now living in a safe, new home courtesy of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” with help from Malden, Mass.-based Alpine Landscape.
Owner Christopher Rosa and seven fellow workers from Salem Street’s Alpine Landscape Company pitched in during the snow-filled days of late February this year, paving driveways and patios, and installing retaining walls and steps for the Silva family of Warwick, R.I.
Their efforts were broadcast May 4 on ABC.
The show, which builds new homes for families suffering loss, tragedy and all types of adversity, uses volunteer labor from local contractors to complete each project. Each episode is a race against time on a weeklong project that would ordinarily take at least four months, involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have seven days to totally rebuild an entire house, including each room, the exterior and landscaping.
Alpine was contacted to participate by the architect on the project, and workers spent more than 24 hours straight without a break working on the new home’s exterior.
“Besides the weather conditions, it was really fun,” said Rosa, whose company has been in Malden for more than 20 years. “We did it starting on Feb. 23, right after we’d had about a foot of snow. We never do pavers or retaining wall projects in the winter…but (the family’s story) was pretty heartbreaking, and you really can’t walk away from it.”
The Silva family of Warwick — including homemaker Doreen, her husband Ken, a garbage truck driver, their five children and two foster children — suffered a devastating blow last September, when they discovered their home was contaminated by so much lead that severe levels of the toxin were detected by a family doctor, prompting authorities to threaten removal of their foster children.
Over the last six years, the Silvas have raised their two biological children, fostered 13 children and adopted three of those children.
All of the children have special needs. Their three adopted children — Isaiah, 6, Jayedin, 5 and Sammy, 2 — all have physical and cognitive issues ranging from allergies and asthma to learning disabilities. The family also has two other foster children, a 10-month-old boy and 6-month-old girl, in their care right now.
When inspectors found that even the improvements the family could afford to make to the home wouldn’t suffice, the Silvas grew desperate.
Enter “Extreme Makeover.”
The week of Feb. 20, TV host and makeover leader Ty Pennington gave his famous “wakeup call” to the family, sending them on a vacation to Disney for a week while crews from the show and local contractors tore down their old home, laying foundation and erecting a new house in less than a week.
By the weekend, Alpine came in to complete paving, walls, the driveway and steps, and the family returned for the grand unveiling of their new home.
The design team from ABC includes leader and carpenter Ty Pennington, along with designers Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders, Tanya McQueen, Eduardo Xol and John Littlefield.
The home is new inside and out; the process is so secret, Rosa said, that his workers knew nothing about the family going into the project. He still hasn’t seen the episode or any photos taken by ABC during the week, though his crew and the Silva family will be watching their episode air this Sunday at a private gathering at a Rhode Island hotel.
“I had never watched the show before, so we didn’t know what to expect,” Rosa said. “We thought that it was going to be something simple; we thought we were going to be there for 12 hours, and we were there for 26. We weren’t allowed to know who they were or where they lived It’s still kind of secretive, actually. I think there’s still plastic on the windows (of the house in Warwick) so no one can look in.”
Rosa said he and his workers are looking forward to seeing the show Sunday, and are still thinking about their rewarding experience helping a family in such severe need of help — snowfall and frigid temperatures notwithstanding.
“It was a nice thing to do for someone,” he said.
For more information on the show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” visit abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome.
For more information on Alpine Landscape, call their Salem Street office at 781/388-9988.
