Give Back To The Community As Part of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Think about the things you see every day. Really think about them. Can you imagine waking up and going through your everyday routine without the gift of your eyesight? What about not being able to hear the sounds of life going on around you? These are the challenges that the Anderson family of Maple Heights, Ohio, lives with: Both parents are legally blind and one of their two children is hearing impaired. As part of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition experience, EZ Breathe Ventilation worked to help to make life a little easier for the Anderson family.
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Lead project contractor Marous Brothers Construction of Willoughby, Ohio, contacted EZ Breathe as they were assembling the team of contractors and businesses to work on the high-profile charitable project. “Because we are recognized as the industry leader, they turned to us first,” said Erika DiCello Lacroix, President of, EZ Breathe. “We were so pleased to be able to contribute and be a part of the team to help this family,” she said.
Building A Dream Come True
The process began with representatives from EZ Breathe Ventilation meeting with the lead project manager from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to assess needed products and services. For this particular project, the project team decided to level the existing structure and build an entirely new home from the foundation up. “This project was about improving the overall quality of life for the Andersons, so it was fitting that the team selected the EZ Breathe Ventilation System as part of the new home construction,” said Lacroix. “EZ Breathe creates an all-around healthier living environment in the home—a benefit that goes hand-in-hand with the mission of Extreme Home Makeover.”
Construction on the project started on September 30, 2010, and took less than seven days to complete. “It was an amazing experience to be on that jobsite,” said Lacroix. “Usually on a construction job, there are strictly defined roles…one contactor manages HVAC, another installs the plumbing, etc. But here, the compartmental lines totally blurred and everyone pitched in and helped each other,” she said. “It was like a buzzing bee hive and incredibly organized.”
The Extreme Home Makeover team is a well-oiled machine: These experienced project managers are skilled at pulling off the “impossible” in cities all across the United States. To meet the tight deadlines, many of the sections of the home are assembled offsite and then brought in and set into place, such as the floor, walls and roof. “When we arrived on the job at 10 a.m. there was just a foundation,” said Lacroix. “By four o’clock the walls were up and they were lifting the roof trusses into place.”
A project of this magnitude doesn’t happen without tremendous support. More than a thousand volunteers from the Greater Cleveland area helped with the building project. “It was really rewarding to be onsite and to see all of the community members who were giving of their time to help out this family,” Lacroix said. “In our job, we do feel good about the products and services that we offer to our customers to improve the living conditions in their homes,” he said. “But donating the EZ Breathe system and being a part of this process reinforced that all of us at EZ Breathe and our extended family of EZ Breathe Distributors had a hand in making a difference for the Andersons.”
The new home features advanced technology designed to make everyday living a little easier, safer and healthier for the family. The exterior doors of the home are equipped with scanners that use thumbprints to activate locks, instead of keys. In the kitchen, the family can wave a hand in front of a cabinet door and the computerized pad will use audio technology to dictate the contents of the cabinet.
The Anderson family moved into their beautiful new home in September and The program aired on December 5, 2010. Past episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition can be viewed at www.abc.com