Buffalo shines in ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’
Published: January 19, 2010, 12:32 pm
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"Wow." "Amazing." "Great."
Those were the enthusiastic words that designer Paige Hemmis kept repeating about the episode of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" that is set in Buffalo. The show - a special two-hour episode - airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
Hemmis said the Buffalo episode is one of the more memorable of the 85 to 90 that she has been involved in over seven seasons.
When asked to rate the Buffalo show, featuring Jamaican immigrant Delores Powell and her four children, Hemmis said: "I would say definitely Top 10. Not only is the family amazing, but the community is so good.
"Delores moved to the United States when she had nothing from Jamaica, she bought this home, she created a wonderful environment for kids," added Hemmis. "Love was definitely there. They just needed a little help with the house."
Hemmis was one of three designers, along with carpenter and host Ty Pennington, who were here in November for the rebuilding of the Massachusetts Avenue home.
Hemmis also said she expects that Buffalo will get a boost from Sunday's episode.
"I'm hoping," said Hemmis. "Everyone told us it is going to be so cold in Buffalo and it is a rough neighborhood. One … it was warmer than all of our other shows. We had wonderful weather and the people we met there … for us, it was not a rough neighborhood, it was a caring neighborhood, a diverse neighborhood .‚.‚. Obviously it was not an affluent neighborhood.
"Everyone stopped what they were doing and helped us for that week. It is going to shine such a wonderful light on Buffalo, and I hope it really does because that's how we feel about it. Buffalo is such an amazing town .‚.‚. It was such a wonderful experience from start to finish. It was great."
Hemmis also took a brief break to visit the Powell family in Florida and help box up shoes to send to Delores' elementary school in Jamaica.
"She said when she grew up she didn't have any shoes," said Hemmis. "We worked with a company, Soles4Souls. They send shoes all over the world. We went to Florida and they helped us box up hundreds and hundreds of shoes to send to her grade school in Jamaica."
Hemmis said going to Orlando to surprise the family and share Delores' dream was her personal highlight.
"She said when you have shoes, you start looking up," said Hemmis. "You no longer have to look down, but you look up. I think it is something you and I would take for granted. Wow, something so stripped to basic needs. .‚.‚. I love when we can pick up someone else's dream and help them with that."
Hemmis said the show's cast and production team lobbied to expand the program from its normal one hour to two hours because of the "amazing" Powell family and the amazing efforts of the Western New York community to expand the renovation to other homes in the area.
"We sort of keep pushing for that," said Hemmis. "We kept saying there was so much amazing stuff, that we were doing so many additional houses, how could you possibly fit it into one hour?"
She worked on five homes in addition to the Powell home, leaving little time to do much in Buffalo but have a few meals at local restaurants, including Chophouse, Mother's and Hutch's.
"We ended up doing the entire neighborhood," noted Hemmis, speaking from the middle of a field in South Carolina on her latest assignment. "We've done it a couple of times before, but those were like big season finales and there was all this planning. This was kind of more organic. The locals stepped up and said, "We wanted to help and here's how we can help.' It was amazing, because it truly came from the community rather than a show saying, "We need to do this.'‚"
She understands why the uplifting show has been so successful for so long.
"Part of it is we're doing a good thing," said Hemmis. "We're helping people. In the beginning, we had no idea that we'd be liked or picked up by the network. I remember sitting down and watching the first show. .‚.‚. It was like "Wow it really does pull at your heartstrings and hopefully inspires other people to help.' I think that's why it is successful. .‚.‚. We also throw in the silliness, so it is entertaining to watch. At the end of the day, we are making a difference and I think it inspires other people to make a difference in their own community. And that's a pretty big compliment to us."
The location of the Powell house gave designer Hemmis some obstacles to overcome.
"There we were, in a city street, we only had 14 feet across in this house," said Hemmis. "For designers, it was a little challenging because we didn't have the space that we would have liked. We had to keep it looking like the neighborhood, because obviously you didn't want to build a castle. It was a wonderfully appointed row home. It is three stories high. It gave them the space that they need and still keeping with the neighborhood, which we always like to do."
The episode also features appearances from singer Ashanti and some celebrity furniture movers … the Buffalo Bills.
"Ashanti was amazing," said Hemmis. "It was cute. She showed up in her diva attire and pretty soon she's got a hammer, she's painting. She put all the glamour away and really got to work, which is awesome."
"Ashanti said she grew up in a neighborhood very similar and she kind of had a similar story, but the family absolutely loved her. It was a dream of the family to have her involved as well."
Hemmis, who was in the reality series "The Superstars" that also featured the Buffalo Bills' Terrell Owens this summer, was disappointed that T.O.'s schedule prevented him from coming to the house during the build. But other Bills made it.
"The Bills came to move furniture," said Hemmis. "All of the Buffalo Bills were such good guys. I think you have this image of what football players are going to be, and there they were helping us and saying, "What can we do? How can we help more?' It was a great experience."
e-mail: apergament@buffnews.com
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