ABC's Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to Albuquerque in January of this year. For those of you who don't know, Extreme Makeover Home Edition is a traveling TV show that bulldozes dilapidated homes belonging to families in need and builds custom homes in place of the old ones.
The show was in Albuquerque to rebuild the home of Gerald Martinez, a pastor at Joshua's Vineyard Church who has spent more than $60,000 on purchasing homes in the neighborhood and turning them into duplex apartments for the poor.
Martinez's home at 404 Grove St. S.E. is in the Trumbull Village neighborhood - an area marked by poverty, drug crime and violence.
Per an article featured in the Albuquerque Tribune on January 17, "The show sent Martinez and his family to an undisclosed Disney resort during the construction, which Makeover producers say will include a new home for the Martinez family, another new structure and the remodeling of two other homes nearby.
In keeping with the concept behind Martinez's neighborhood project, the Extreme Makeover crew demolished a block of empty houses on nearby San Pablo Street on Wednesday morning as a favor to the city.
Additional duplex apartments will be built there as part of a city plan to revitalize the area, providing a place to live for more families in need of affordable, safe housing.
Darren Drevik, director of marketing for Atreus Homes and Communities, the lead builder on many Extreme Makeover projects, said Wednesday that feedback from the show's presence in the community has been extraordinary."
"Everybody that I've talked to . . . has just been thrilled that Martinez and his family are going to get a new home and that we're going to revitalize the neighborhood," he said.
"I think the people that live here really, really want to turn this neighborhood around."
Drevik said the production has brought attention to the neighborhood's needs and the goals Martinez has been working toward.
Over the last few years the atmosphere of the Trumbull Village neighborhood has started to change thanks to Martinez's efforts, Drevik said. He hopes the Extreme Makeover production will give it the push it needs to defeat its reputation."
For more information, click here: Atreus Homes and Communities
The Martinez Family project had a local Beta Sigma Phi connection. As Anita Suazo of Delta Omega says, "My husband, Reuel Suazo, is the Regional Manager for Creative Touch Interiors. They laid all of the flooring and granite counter tops in all of the homes on the show. He really admired the Martinez family for what they do for the community and was honored to work on this project."
Anita and Vickie Brence of Delta Omega, along with Maria Romero-McCue of Beta Psi, ventured out to the job site on a very cold January night. Here are some of the photos they took.
Ty Pennington signing autographs.
Late Night Construction.
