Starting Point, working together, setting politics aside

It is astonishing that political differences have taken over so much that a reality TV show had to do something like this, but I am glad they did.

The veterans I spend my time with manage to do this all the time. They put the "mission" ahead of political views. Just as they did when they risked their lives, the only thing that matter was the guy next to them was "one of them" and political views really didn't matter that much.

They were willing to die for one another but most people in this country can't manage to have a civil discussion that gets to the point instead of pointing fingers.

Political parties come together to build home for veteran
October 17th, 2012
CNN
Ty Pennington explains

Ty Pennington is known for building homes for deserving people. We've been following his work as he brought both political parties together for one goal, to build a home for a military family. It's a plan both parties could agree on.

The plan called for half of the home to be built, you'll remember, at the Republican National Convention, the other half of the home was constructed at the Democratic National Convention. Today the home comes together. It's donated, it's finished and it goes to John Jones II and his wife, Tanisha. They're going to get that home at 12:00 noon today.

This morning on "Starting Point," Pennington talks to Soledad about the journey to getting the house produced, and the Jones family explain how thrilled they are to received the house.

Extreme Makeover needs to make this right

Jubilee House struggles without VA money
Staff writer
By John Ramsey
Jul 21, 2012

Michelle Obama stepped off an oversized bus on Langdon Street last July and hugged a wide-eyed Barbara Marshall, then thanked her for helping the nation try to end homelessness.

With hundreds of people gathered along the street chanting the familiar "move that bus" refrain, the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" revealed Jubilee House, a 7,200-square-foot duplex built to shelter homeless women veterans.

It seemed no expense was spared on the house, from dazzling custom art to a soundproof playroom and a backyard greenhouse with a vacuum tube for shooting vegetables directly into one of the home's two kitchens.

But the day after the bus was moved, Jubilee House failed a Veterans Affairs safety inspection because it lacked automatic sprinklers, a controversial provision in nationally recommended standards.

The failed inspection meant Marshall could not receive up to $1,200 a month from the VA for every homeless veteran she took in, money similar organizations say they need to survive.

Jubilee House could still legally open. It met state and local building codes, which don't require indoor sprinklers for single-family homes and duplexes. But without the VA money, Marshall has struggled to keep the lights on during a tough first year with the new house.

The conversation boiled down to two main questions: Does Jubilee House need sprinklers to receive a VA contract? And was "Extreme Makeover" - which VA emails say was notified of the requirement before construction and after - going to install them?
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Home Edition’ Veterans Day fundraising special

Jewel, Whoopi join ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ Veterans Day fundraising special

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, November 2, 7:02 AM

LOS ANGELES — “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will salute military families in a Veterans Day fundraising special featuring stars including Jewel, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams.

The hourlong ABC special, airing 8 p.m. EST on Nov. 11, will focus on issues faced by veterans and highlight the skills they can bring to the workforce and their communities, ABC and the charitable Entertainment Industry Foundation said Wednesday.

Jewel, who is co-hosting the special with Ty Pennington of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” also will sing.

“We want everyone to pitch in,” she said in a statement. “We don’t want the veterans to feel forgotten. Through their struggles, illness, post-traumatic stress disorder and a tough economy, we’re here to let them know they’re still supported.”
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First lady, TV show bring attention to veterans

First lady, TV show bring attention to veterans
By Lynn Elber - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 24, 2011
LOS ANGELES — Michelle Obama found an unusual ally — reality TV — in her effort to bring attention to the needs of military families.

The first lady, appearing Sunday on the two-part season premiere of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (7-9 p.m. EDT) says the program was the right platform for the cause.

“We live in a media age, and one of the things we still share is our love of television” and the stories it can tell so effectively, Obama said. “We thought this was an extraordinary venue to highlight the struggles and challenges and triumphs of a special family.”

Barbara Marshall of Fayetteville, N.C., who served in the Navy for 15 years, was dismayed by the number of homeless female veterans and established Steps-N-Stages Jubilee House to provide shelter, counseling and other aid. When the house grew cramped and inadequate, “Extreme Makeover” and the first lady stepped in.

She joined with series host Ty Pennington, a local builder and community volunteers on the Jubilee House project and was on hand at the unveiling to surprise Marshall.
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Michelle Obama helps build home for homeless women veterans

In North Carolina, under a blazing sun, the First Lady lent a hand to crew and volunteers building "Steps N Stages Jubilee House," a boarding home for homeless women veterans.

Her visit was filmed for an episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" that drew a huge crowd early in the day, hundred of fans hoping to see Michelle Obama in person. For some of these fans, the wait was overwhelming. The Times Union reports "the early afternoon heat and excitement got the best of some and a handful of people fainted, requiring the care of emergency medical crews."

But for the most part, the event was a success, if a sweltering hot one. Obama took a tour of the project with Barbara Marshall, herself a 15-year Navy veteran who allowed her own home to be demolished to make room for the boarding house, playhouse, greenhouse, and resource center-- all intended to function as shelter for women veterans. Several families will be able to live in the new building.
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PTSD Iraq veteran getting "quiet" house from community

This story shows how far we've come on PTSD. Staff Sgt. Hill went through a year long PTSD program. That's great and it shows that the government is trying to do something about it. What is the most remarkable in all of this is the fact people understand the need to help him and his family. He lived in a noisy area fueling his PTSD so the community stepped up to build him a home where he does not have to hear so much noise it haunts him. Glenn Close nominated him for this Extreme Makeover. Gov. Brownback put on a hardhat and got to work. This is about a community getting together to help a veteran.

Gov. Brownback and Topeka business go to the "Extreme"



Governor Sam Brownback has set his sights on building up; from the economy to private sector jobs.

Now he is taking the term literal by actually building and putting hammer to nail for the hit show "Extreme Makover: Home Edition."

A Topeka lighting store is also a bright spot in the process. Long Lighting Studio is supplying the lighting fixtures for the home.

It''s all for Staff Sargeant Allen Hill, who sacrificed for his state and country. While in Iraq, a roadside bomb nearly killed him and left him with a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Now, Gov. Brownback and others are recognizing that sacrifice by helping him build his life back.
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Gov. Brownback and Topeka business go to the "Extreme"

Extreme Makeover for Spc. Patrick Tutwiller after Iraq and tornado

Makeover: Stars descend on community
Carla Strand
City-County Editor
Thursday, Nov 20, 2008

CHAPMAN -- Before a crowd of thousands of people and with TV cameras rolling, the Patrick Tutwiler family was introduced to their new home built by volunteers working with the television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Many of those thousands waited four to five hours through a sunny, chilly and often breezy Tuesday, after e-mail messages sent out by the show Monday night stated the family would be home early to avoid the potential for bad weather late Tuesday.

Joy Burton, who teaches grades 1-8 at the Enterprise Academy, said students from the school attended about two hours of classes Tuesday morning before buses headed to Chapman to watch events unfold.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” she said. “There are some things you can’t teach them about. They have to see it for themselves.”

Spc. Tutwiler, who joined the Army following 9/11, was wounded in the neck by a sniper’s bullet while serving in Iraq in 2007, and was back home in Chapman recovering from a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, when the tornado occurred.

Within a matter of months, the family would have been forced to leave after Tutwiler is medically discharged from the Army.

“It was fitting that we named a veteran on Veteran’s Day to receive a home,” said Diane Korman, senior producer, Lock and Key Productions, which produces “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
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Jamie Dolan survived being shot

Claims and denials
Jamie Dolan survived being shot. And the new house reduced his struggle. He has learned to live in darkness, but he struggles with an enemy as unexpected as the gunman: His insurance company.
ST. PETERSBURG

Jamie Dolan arrives at a Starbucks clutching his wife's arm and the first thing you notice is he seems fragile, weighted, broken. His left eye is covered with a patch; his fingernails are long. Four years ago, a gunman walked into the Gateway Mall RadioShack where Dolan worked and started shooting. Three people died, including the shooter. One bullet traveled into Dolan's temple and took out both his eyes.

The community rallied around the young husband and father of three. The television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built him a 3,500-square-foot home. The episode ended with a joyful, overwhelmed Dolan surrounded by family, cheered by his neighbors, optimistic about the future.

But he is no longer the man you saw on the show. Since then, the Dolans have almost lost the house, and the community donations are long spent.

"We had to borrow from everyone we knew to keep food on the table for the kids," Dolan says at Starbucks, surrounded by his four attorneys.
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Extreme Makeover making over the LA Catholic Church?

Because I try to cover all the reasons of PTSD, the stories of the rapes of kids by some priests, will be part of what I post on. To get a real grip on the fact PTSD is a human condition caused by trauma, we need to learn all we can about other causes. It will help to eliminate the stigma.

When I was reading this story, it took so many unexpected turns, there is a great need to read all of it.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition Builds Priest Rape Crime Victim Rehab Centers, but in the end, it's all a dream, or is it.
by Kay Ebeling (Posted by Kay Ebeling) Page 1 of 4 page(s)
http://www.opednews.com/

As it turns out, Ty Pennington went to see Cardinal Roger Mahony about helping a rape victim begin helping others with a center for other victims of priests. Pennington wanted to help Kay Ebeling do just that.

Kay Ebeling devotes hours of time as a volunteer to a cause that's important to her. She’s a journalist who just happens to also be a victim of Catholic Priest pedophilia, so Kay produces City of Angels blog where she is determined to get out the truth, about sex crimes in the Catholic Church

.

While the Cardinal was trying to say they did all they could, one of the Extreme Makeover staffers took a look at property owned by the church and found they owned a building used in porn. You have to read the rest of this story yourself. You'd never believe it if I only took other parts out of this and there is just no way to cut down four pages to do this any kind of justice. Great work on this, that's for sure.