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« Michael's Extreme Makeover Blog
The Yazzie Family
This week we're in Pinon, Arizona — actually the far northeast corner of Arizona on the Navajo reservation — and we're here to meet a very special Navajo family, the Yazzies. Mom Georgia and her kids: Geralene, Garrett, and Gwendolyn.
Gwen has epilepsy and severe asthma and they were heating the house with coal. Coal is expensive, does not burn clean air and was basically wreaking havoc on Gwen's respiratory system. Being the great brother he is, Garrett began looking for a way to help his sister and he came up with something pretty amazing. When he was just 13 years old he had an idea to heat his family's home. He used 16 tin cans and an old radiator from a car to create a solar heating system to warm his family. Now this didn't go unnoticed, he received many awards and accolades but his dream didn't stop there, he contacted us to let us know that his family still needed help. The home, a trailer, was basically falling apart all around them. Garrett Yazzie has asked us to help him fulfill a dream: To make sure that his entire family is safe, comfortable, and warm.
It's pretty remote out here — there are actually areas that don't even have paved roads. The Yazzie's house, well, there's no road and there's no driveway. There was no way we were gonna get the bus up there, nevertheless heavy construction equipment. With the help of the Navajo DOT we were able to get those roads taken care of. We just needed a builder, and for that we called on a great builder who joined us before in North Carolina. Steve Sasso and Darren Drevik with HomeLife Communities stepped up big time in an area where building was as tough as it gets and pulled this off building a beautiful, quality home for this family.
I'm really excited to take care of Garrett's room this week. Garrett's an amazing kid. He loves to ride his bike. For him, that's an escape, so I think it's really important that his room is an escape. That room is going to be all about BMX. I know he loves to invent, and he loves to create. So I'm giving him his own little secret room, off of the bedroom, and I'm calling it his lab. He loves to create and he's obviously very smart so it's just a room to inspire him, a place here he can go and he can study or he can look at a computer or a microscope or a globe, and just create and invent. Who knows with this kid... anything can happen.
Navajo culture is all about walking with the land, with the earth, and in being self-sustainable with the environment. We want to make sure that we honor that this week, it's really important to the culture and our team. The designers all got together and had a meeting. We just said let's go green; let's really go green. Let's talk about solar panels. Let's talk about recycling water. Let's talk about indigenous plants, low flush toilets, and cork floors. Walls with insulation in them everything we can do to embrace this proud culture. Embrace where we're at with this weather that we have and take advantage of it. I think we were able to pull that off and at the same time honor this remarkable young man and his family.
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Oct 26, 2007 1:13 PM
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Thank you for respecting the Native American beliefs. I have heard that multiple families have not been able to keep the beautiful homes that you present them with because they can not afford the up-keep on them. I am hoping that you will be keeping this tradition of going green with all of your upcoming builds. It would allow many people to keep their houses because their energy bills would be much lower and it would help reduce pollution for the lifetime of each house. Please consider this, as I love what the Home Makeover team is doing for people, but cannot support the inefficiency of the houses that you build.
You are welcome to respond to this comment. My email is blackwulf16@yahoo.com.
Thank you.
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Oct 28, 2007 5:52 PM
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I Wanted to say home much tonights show affected me my heart goes out to you and your family I couldnt stop crying the hole time watching it. I am glad this has help you guys be happy and live life healthier and happier may all your dreams come true bless you guys
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Oct 29, 2007 12:12 AM
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I often wonder what qualifies certain people to win an extreme home makeover. While these people lived in absolute squallor, what did they do to try and get themselves out of it? There were no men around and yet a 20-year old had 2 kids under the age of 2. HUH? No jobs, no nothing. No effort to say, "Hey, at least we're trying to afford running water." I realize bad things happen that are out of our control, but it's hard to feel compassion for them when no effort was made to get themselves out of their current state. (At least ABC didn't mention anything.)
Oh, and could you all quit with the theme rooms? They're getting very old. I wonder how soon those rooms have to be redone because one or more of the kids have out-grown the "pink dollhouse" or "lilypads" or "BMX" or whatever phase they may be in at the time. Give them neat rooms they can grow with. If they couldn't afford to fix their homes before you showed up, they won't be able to afford to redecorate either. It's also no longer a shock to have Ty pick the parents' bedroom as his "secret project." Mix it up a little, people.
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Oct 29, 2007 10:20 AM
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To VJW1218- Do some research on the American Indian and you'll find out why. You will find out that even in the 21st century the U.S. government still has a bad attitude toward this race of people. No other ethnic group of people in this country are treated the way the American Indian is treated! My sister once worked with a black girl who complained about the government housing projects. She told the girl the blacks were given the projects the Indians were given the reservations. The co-worker never complained again about the projects. It is not possible for the majority of the people to have running water because it is not available to them on the reservations. The houses the government has given to them have electrical outlets but no electricity to hook up to, there are water faucets but no water to hook up to, and dirt floors.
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Oct 29, 2007 2:05 PM
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I never cry. I did last night watching that episode.
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Oct 29, 2007 2:17 PM
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I really wanted to see this particular episode. I think Garrett really deserved the new home. He blew me away when I read that he built the generator for power. Wow that is totally amazing. It would be nice if everyone could just be happy for others when nice things happen for them instead of posting negative comments because of jealousy like the one posted above. Keep up the good work and God bless Garrett and his family.
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Oct 29, 2007 2:39 PM
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While I agree the government treated the Native American terribly in the past by forcing them from their lands, this is no longer the case. No one makes them live on the reservation anymore...
And if you assume I've never been to a reservation, you're wrong. I was facsinated by the number of bars and casinos available while the folks sat in lawn chairs in front of their trailers.
Oh, and if they don't have electricity to hook up to, then why did they keep mentioning that they won't have to pay utility bills anymore?
No one - in this day and age - is forced to stay where they are. Again, where were the men? Why did no one have a job?
Yes, Garrett was innovative, but it's a shame he had to be.
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Oct 30, 2007 11:19 AM
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Having worked on the site (Hi Michael!), I'll help clarify:
1- They do have electricity in the area. However, it's very expensive, so they can't afford to heat with it, hence the coal/wood stove.
2- They did a "grid tie" to the house because a battery system would have been too much maintenance, and would have a long-term maintenance cost.
3- I didn't see any casinos on the Navajo reservation. Not all tribes have decided to go down the casino road. The tribal lands I've been to with casinos DO have better standards of living, but casino's can't carry the load to create all the jobs.
The ramp bed was a lot of fun to work on... once Michael decided what he wanted.  Not all EMHE projects are built to last, but that bed is gonna be there a long time. The house, too.
There's a lot of really nice stuff we did on that build that didn't make it on the show. They could have made the 2-hour season premiere out of that show. Jeez, they didn't even show the messed up weather we had- burning sun, rain, dust storms, and snow- all in the SAME day!
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Oct 30, 2007 1:43 PM
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I watched this episode last night, and I was VERY happy for the Yazzie family. Please remember something people. This isn't about judging who is most deserving and why, or placing your brand of morality on people, this is about helping people, and about the good that can be done for our friends and neighbors. The Yazzie Family was in a very tough situation. Debate all you want about them getting jobs etc... What matters in the end is that EMOH stepped up and did something incredible for these people, and that will likely change their lives and give them some hope. Let's think about something... Sears could spend MILLIONS paying celebrities to promote their brands like Kenmore, Craftsman, etc.. but they have chosen to put those dollars to great use and are not only reaping the advertising benefits, but they are changing peoples lives and giving good people much hope about their futures. Don't be mean and jealous, just be happy for these people that are getting to live in a new home that they likely would have never had in their entire lifetime without Extreme Makeover Home Edition and the many people and sponsors that are a part of such a great show.
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Jun 2, 2008 2:26 PM
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Who was the manufacturer / installer of the solar panels that rotate with the sun? Seems like a possible solution for the hill below my house. Steve
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Jun 4, 2008 10:27 AM
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