Some Geist and Fishers businesses pitched in to help with the most recent “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition“ project, which took place right here in Indianapolis during the week of March 29-April 4.
The Estridge Companies — along with hundreds of contractors, volunteers and neighbors — teamed up to build a new home for the McFarland family at 2356 North Oxford Street on the city’s near east side. Bernard McFarland, a computer specialist for Marshall High School and a single father of three sons, was chosen for the honor because of his efforts to mentor kids and improve his community.
His home needed a makeover, but so did the rest of the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood near 25th and Keystone Avnenue. Paul Estridge said he would help with the project only if he could help the whole neighborhood and not just one family.
Thanks to the Estridge Companies, Mainscape landscaping and host of other local businesses and volunteers, the community of more than 400 homes now has new trees, plants and paved alleys — even wireless internet access!
Mainscape Inc, of Fishers, donated and installed the landscaping for the home and neighborhood. Aqua Systems of Fishers donated a water treatment system.
“We’ve done lot of work with Estridge, so I knew they would do a good job, and we were happy to be a part of it,” said Ray Gonzalez of Mainscape. “Neighbors came out to watch as we worked!”
Another Fishers resident, Laura Musall of F.C. Tucker Company, volunteered on the Extreme Build public relations team.
“This was an unbelievable experience, and I am so thankful that Estridge allowed me to be a part of it,” Musall said. “Yes, it was great to watch a house be built in a week, and to see Ty Pennington and the designers and the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition show being taped, but the most rewarding part of all of this was to see thousands of people from all walks of life get involved and work together to change the lives of many people.
“The McFarlands will get a new home, but the community also will get a community center, and more than 450 homes will have free wireless access. About 1,200 trees were planted throughout the neighborhood, allies were cleaned up, yards landscaped, an abandoned house removed, and repairs were made to about 20 more houses. To think that in one week working together all of this could happen really is amazing.”
Construction continued around-the-clock throughout the week. Geist contractor Terrance “T.C.” Clayborn heard the Extreme team was looking for volunteers and headed to the build site at 4 a.m. on Thursday to lend a hand.
“I just thought I would donate some of my time,” said Clayborn, who also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. He didn’t know then that he would end up working until 2:30 a.m. Saturday!
When the Makeover team noticed that Clayborn was adept with a paintbrush, they asked him if he knew how to stain furniture. He ended up working directly with Lead Carpenters Paul DiMeo and Ed Sanders on the carpentry team building a custom-made desk for McFarland and staining “everything.”
“We were working around the clock,” he recalls. “Everybody was drinking Red Bull and trying to get it done.”
Geist resident Beth Lowe came out to watch the action. “It was incredible how fast everything goes up,” she said. “I watched them pour the foundation using a special cement that dried in about eight hours. It is like performing a surgery with eight surgeons at once to cut the time in half!”
The design team for this episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” featured team leader Ty Pennington and designers Paul DiMeo, Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis and Ed Sanders.
The neighborhood viewing party will be held May 17th, when the episode will air on WRTV Channel 6.
While their house was being demolished and rebuilt, the McFarlands enjoyed a trip to Paris. Upon their return Saturday, a huge crowd was on hand for “Move that Bus” day as the final product was revealed to the family.
A big thanks to our Geist neighbors and all the businesses who put in such an effort to improve an Indianapolis neighborhood.
And to the McFarland family, “Bienvenue a la maison”—Welcome Home!
