Brrrr! Hard to think of below-freezing temperatures now that spring has sprung, but back in winter when we visited the Martinez family in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it was cold! I set down my coffee one day on my way into the framed house to do a "walk through" for the camera. I was gone probably 45 minutes, and when I came back to my coffee, it was frozen!
It was a solid block of coffee! So that may give you an idea of how hard it was to build a house in seven days in such chilly temps.
Ty, Michael, Paul, Ed and I packed on the heavy jackets and headed out to meet the Martinez family. Being around this family is like being in the presence of love and devotion. This family loves their community, and is devoted to one another and the people that surround them. This might not seem like a unique quality, until you realize that the community that they love is one of hardship and strife. This family was living in the mountains of Colorado and just a few years ago, decided to give up everything and move to a run down, drug-infested area. Gerald took the position as a minister at the local church. The family has been attacked; their things have been stolen, and they were not well received. Gerald, the dad, was once beaten so badly by gang members that he had to be hospitalized! But the family never gave up — they believed that they could make a difference in this community from in the inside out, and that's exactly what they have done. They have turned this neighborhood around. Drug activity is down, gang activity is at an all-time low, and crime had decreased significantly. Everyone in the area calls Gerald "Papa" and the entire family has worked together to make a difference in their community.
One of the sacrifices that this family made was opening their house to people who needed a place to stay. Our goal this week was to give this family a place of their own to just be a family. We built them a home, re-built their old home as a community center, and built another building to house the folks that need a place to stay to get back on their feet. Since this family is so giving, we're not sure what they'll be happier about — their own home, or what we built for their community.
Our builder this week was Atreus Homes (formerly Homelife Communities), making their third appearance on our show but not the last! (They also helped us on the finale but you'll have to wait until that blog to hear about that). They did a great job, as usual!
Here's a behind-the-scenes bit of info that you won't see on the show — Atreus brought a very special guest to the site — NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace!
Rusty showed up and sped around our site with his racecar, cheering up the men and women who came out to help us. It was so great, not only to meet this racing legend, but also to see him build up the spirits of the people in the neighborhood!
Overall, it was a great week, despite the freezing temperatures, and we all learned one great lesson: We can all make a difference in our own community, just one person (or one family) at a time.
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