Homeport Plans ‘Extreme Makeover’ of Columbus Communities

By Ascala Sisk
Senior Manager, Neighborhood Stabilization
NeighborWorks America

As I watched the ABC program “Extreme Makeover” during the holidays, I saw in the faces of an entire community why neighborhood revitalization is so important.

Through the efforts of NeighborWorks member Homeport in Columbus, Ohio, the ABC hit show came to American Addition, a neighborhood Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman said was “the most egregiously neglected urban neighborhood I have ever seen.”

It was heartwarming to see national visibility brought to the work Homeport is doing to invest in this distressed neighborhood, and to see the true impact rebuilding a community has on families. Neighborhood stabilization is more than rehabbing abandoned and foreclosed homes and buildings, putting them up for sale or rent and protecting property values.

Extreme Makeover reveals the Rhodes family's new home.
Homeport helped the family submit its application to the show.
View full episode and house tour.

It is also about the people. It is about putting families back in homes, providing safe and secure communities, and bringing back important community connections and infrastructure, such as parks, playgrounds and community spaces.

This is the long-term vision Homeport has for American Addition. The organization used Extreme Makeover as a launching pad for its efforts to rebuild 100 new homes over the next 10 years using Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants, city funds and private investments. In October 2011, Homeport broke ground on the first six lots with homes to be completed by February 2012. All of the houses will be built to green standards. [See Homeport’s story behind Extreme Makeover and American Addition].

If you’d like to see how else Homeport and other NSP grantees are successfully using program funds to reinvest in declining neighborhoods, view these videos. The videos were produced by HUD in collaboration with NeighborWorks America and Enterprise Community Partners.

NeighborWorks Member Homeport Brings ABC’s 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' to Ohio



The Rhodes family was surprised to learn they will
get a new home from ABC's Extreme Makeover.
WATCH THE VIDEO.
Tune in to ABC on Friday, Dec. 16 at
8pm, EST to see the transformation!

 

NeighborWorks member Homeport aka Columbus Housing Partnership assisted the ABC network program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to bring attention to the Rhodes family and the forgotten Ohio neighborhood called American Addition, where they lived.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the neighborhood has been singled out by Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman as “the most egregiously neglected urban neighborhood I have ever seen.” The mayor is investing $5 million to rebuild streets and alleys and install sidewalks, lights, curbs, waterlines and storm-sewer lines, while federal Neighborhood Stabilization Project money will help to pay for 150 new homes.

The city doesn’t have to worry about one of those homes, however. It has been rebuilt by the cast and crew of Extreme Makeover. The process started two years ago, when Homeport’s volunteers and staff went door to door talking to families and helping those interested in completing the lengthy application process. Homeport helped the families create videos to accompany their applications and helped shoot additional supporting video discussing the neglected neighborhood's history.

In August, the cast of Extreme Makeover knocked on the door of James and Jackie Rhodes and surprised them with the news that they had been chosen to receive a brand new home because of their family’s love and commitment to each other. The Dispatch reports that the Rhodes had taken in their daughter Mikia and her four children, after Mikia had emergency surgery to cure a brain tumor. She slept with her children — ages 7, 9, 15 and 18 — in the main sitting room on the first floor, while her parents occupied the only bedroom upstairs. The home was not only cramped, it was also in desperate need of repair.

Now thanks to Homeport and Extreme Makeover, the Rhodes have a brand new home for the holidays. The episode showing the whole process will air on Friday, December 16 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Some members of the Homeport team made cameo appearances in the show as elves and others may appear talking about the organization's programs. Tune in!