THE “GOLDEN RULE” IN ACTION IN THE SUNSHINE STATE!
ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Lifestyle Homes
Give Back to Giving Cocoa, Florida Family
COCOA, FL – (January 7, 2011) –
The Hurston family of Cocoa, Florida, was ambushed this morning by the energetic design team from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and were told their home was chosen for an “extreme” makeover. “Doing unto others” has earned this family a new home in a week.
Ty Pennington, along with designers Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis, and Eduardo Xol, from ABC’s Emmy award-winning show surprised Joe and Cindy Hurston and their children, Juliet, 16, Peter, 12, and four-year Dieunika with the good news.
While the Hurston family was on a charitable relief effort, a pipe burst in an upstairs bathroom, destroying much of their home and personal belongings due to the extensive, undetected flooding. With little money from the insurance company to repair water damage, the Hurstons have been living in the flood-damaged home for now over a year.
Joe’s piloting skills and Cindy’s nursing skills have helped others during twenty-five years of international relief work. They have instilled in their children the joy and reward from helping others in the local, national and global communities. As a result, the Hurston family truly works together, sacrificing personal time, comfort and safety, to lend a helping hand in numerous charitable missions. Juliet, their oldest daughter, rallies her friends to get involved in many of the community projects she spearheads as well.
With a passion to “provide clean water to a thirsty world”, the Hurstons recognize the importance of clean water for healthy and successful survival of a culture. A mission dear to their heart is delivering and installing water purification devices to disaster-ravaged parts of the world. To support that effort, the Hurstons established Air Mobile Ministries, a disaster relief 501(c)(3) non-profit business. Through donations, they manufacture the Voyager, a portable water purifier. To date, the Hurstons have delivered and installed approximately 660 water purification devices in 38 countries, literally saving thousands of lives. To support their family, Joe has a toner cartridge refilling company, and Cindy has a small café. Their son, Peter, has accompanied his parents on charitable missions to deliver water purifiers; he is now learning to fly so he can continue his parents’ work.
Years before the devastating 2010 earthquake, Joe and Cindy Hurston provided aid to Haiti. Their daughters Juliet and Dieunika, adopted from Haiiti when they were 3 and 2, respectively, see their parents work to improve living conditions in the girls’ homeland. The Hurstons also use their resources to transport rescue personnel, supplies and administer life-saving aid in U. S. disasters as well. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Joe found himself in the bittersweet position of providing aid to his hometown, New Orleans.
Embodying the phrase “Service with a smile,” the Hurstons have taken in individuals who are in need in their own community — people who are down on their luck and people in recovery from drugs or alcohol. Every Sunday, the family visits an inpatient psychiatric hospital, helping to encourage teens struggling with various issues.
Putting their needs aside, the family continues to help others while they are in desperate need of repairs to their own home. Additionally, the money needed to repair their donated disaster-relief plane threatens to hamper their relief efforts. Ironically, due to the flood damage, the Hurstons have been living without water and have been using the same water purification system that they’ve delivered to thousands of others; their desire to help others has not wavered because of their misfortune.
Courtesy of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition show, the Hurstons are off on a family vacation to San Diego, California. Meanwhile, Lifestyle Homes, the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew, thousands of volunteers from within the Space Coast community and beyond, will prepare to launch a mission: giving back to the family that’s given so much.
Jake Luhn, CEO of Lifestyle Homes, Melbourne, Florida, was honored that his company was contacted by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to build the house for the Hurstons, but he was even more pleased to build a house that will ease the Hurstons’ burden, and allow them to continue providing their invaluable service to the world.
The fast-paced construction of the house begins on January 8, and will continue at a staggering pace until the crowds gather to “move that bus” on January 14, and welcome the Hurston family to their new home.
Volunteers who are scheduled to help build the home and VIPs cannot drive to the site. Volunteers and VIPs may only enter the site using a bus shuttle service, located at the Central Disposal Facility (Cocoa Landfill), 2250 Adamson Road, Cocoa, Florida, 32926. The shuttle service for volunteers and VIPs will run continuously.
During the build, the public can monitor progress 24-hours a day by visiting the web site: www.extrememakeoverspacecoast.com. The public may visit the site from January 9 to January 14. The public cannot drive to the site. The public may only visit the site using a bus shuttle service provided by RedCoachUSA.com, located at Central Disposal Facility (Cocoa Landfill), 2250 Adamson Road, Cocoa, Florida, 32926. The shuttle service will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
About Lifestyle Homes, Melbourne, Florida
LifeStyle Homes Inc. is a family-owned partnership founded in 1984 by John Luhn (Jake Luhn’s father) and Larry Hufford. LifeStyle Homes has over 25 years of experience in the building industry. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, LifeStyle Homes is a leading builder in the area, with 10 developments of new communities that feature innovative housing designs. More than 1,000 families have trusted LifeStyle Homes to fulfill their dreams of home ownership.
With each home, LifeStyle Homes strives to deliver design excellence and superior craftsmanship. The company believes that total honesty and integrity with its customers, trade partners and suppliers are responsible for its continuing business success. These values are at the heart of every home LifeStyle Homes builds.
About “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which has won back-to-back Emmy® Awards as Best Reality Program (non-competitive), is in its 8th season on ABC. The program is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It’s executive produced by Brady Connell and George Verschoor. David Goldberg is Chairman of Endemol North America. The show airs locally on Sundays (8:00-9:00 EST), on the ABC Television Network.
Daily updates are always available at www.extrememakeoverspacecoast.com.
You can also follow the build on the following social media outlets:
Twitter @LifeStyleHomeFL
facebook.com/lifestylehomes
blog.buildingalifestyle.com/
youtube.com/buildingalifestyle