The Big Nail doesn’t watch a lot of television, but if it did, one show it’d certainly make sure not to miss is ABC’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.’ Much to many people’s surprise, the show is now filming right in the Big Nail’s backyard. Earlier this week, ABC, with assistance from our local Habitat for Humanity volunteers, surprised a local family by providing them with an extreme home makeover of their own.

From Christy Arboscello at The Detroit Free Press:

In the first months after David Gilliam and his family moved into an 1886-era farmhouse in Armada Township, he ripped out some cabinets, installed a new well and began other improvements.
But he never finished the work. He died suddenly on Christmas Eve 2005, just 41.

“He started to renovate it. That was his dream,” said Armada Township Fire Chief Steve Jerzewski, who has fond memories of Gilliam and his work as a firefighter and paramedic in the community.

On Monday, ABC-TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” surprised his widow, Maryann Gilliam, 32, and her six children with a promise to fulfill David Gilliam’s dream and tear down and rebuild the home over the next week.

The show’s producers whisked away Maryann Gilliam and the children — whose ages range from 8 months to 12 years — from her sister’s home in Mt. Clemens to an undisclosed vacation spot. On Monday, they are expected to return to a newly built home on their 1-acre lot. The show’s air date has yet to be determined, but it will appear in the upcoming season.

Click here for the rest of the article.

The Big Nail will have more on the Gilliam’s much deserved gift in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, we salute ABC, the producers of ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ and the hundreds of local Habitat for Humanity volunteers for their hard work and dedication. In reality, this family–like all of the others the show serves–really needed your help!

Meet Sam Ansah, his wife, Esther, and their four babies, Sam Jr., Nora, Simon, and Naomi. Living in a small one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, the Ansah family was not expecting to exponentially expand their family so soon, but before they knew what happened, this family of two quickly became a family of six!

Sam knew his one-bedroom would not be a healthy environment for his new family. After researching his options, Sam came across Habitat for Humanity NYC. After being told he was selected to become a Family Partner with Habitat NYC, Sam and his wife–natives of Ghana, West Africa–are finally living out their dream…The American Dream of Homeownership.

Here’s another picture… this one of the Big Nail’s owner, Ralph R. Roberts, who was in New York City for a real estate industry conference where attendees donated nearly $130,000 towards the construction of the Ansah’s new home.