Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleNeighbors welcome family to ‘Extreme Makeover’ home
The news media surround the Cerda family Wednesday outside their new home built by ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team and hundreds of local volunteers.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 | midnight
Beyond the Sun
The house was complete and the volunteers and film crew were craning their necks in search of the stretch limousine carrying the Cerda family, waiting for it to round the corner so they could scream, "Move that bus!"
"When we turned the corner, we were blindfolded and we could hear the roar of the crowd from where we were and as we got closer, it got louder and louder. When we stepped out of the limo and saw everyone, I was just blown away," homeowner Chuck Cerda said.
Cerda, for the first time in the history of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," kissed the bus when he saw it blocking the view of his family's new house. The Cerdas were chosen because the condition of the house was threatening the weak immune systems of daughters Molly and Maggie, who have Combined Immune Deficiency Disease. The original house had mold in the walls as well as other allergens, structural problems and an outdated plumbing system.
"Our life is going to be different because the air inside this house is completely clean," Molly Cerda said. "That helps my lungs and will make us even healthier, to the point where we might not have to wear masks anymore."
The Cerda's home, which was demolished and rebuilt from the ground up in seven days, now has an HVAC system to filter the air more stringently than a regular heating and cooling system.
"Molly, in the old house, she would be coughing, hacking wheezing, having episodes where her lungs would actually shut down and we'd have to put her on a nebulizer to get them back up," Chuck Cerda said. "Within minutes of being in here, the realization hit Terri and I and we looked at each other and said, '... Molly is not having problems.'"
Terri Cerda said one of the biggest challenges old house presented was the feeling of being trapped inside because of the girls' disease. The family wasn't able to go to places like church or school, she said.
"It was an amazing experience to come home yesterday to realize we have a huge community," she said. "What this community did for us and the number of people that came out to be part of this, to me, is just so amazing ... and I can't say 'thank you' enough."
Hundreds of volunteers worked on the home. Many were part of the building process while others served drinks or donated furniture. Walker Furniture donated most of the furniture for the main rooms of the house and Alarmco donated three years of security service; Freedom exterminators gave the family one year of pest control, among other donations.
The girls were surprised to receive two oboes, a flute and $2,000 worth of music lessons from the Soroptimist International of Metropolitan Las Vegas. The girls' music teacher, Rachel Delgado, presented the family with a donated guitar and new electric piano.
The Cerdas said they keep finding new things they like about their new home. There is nothing they would change about it, they said.
"Our house before was not home ever at any point to us. We were still in boxes after five years of being in this house, we never moved into it," Terri Cerda said. "Thank you so much for giving us a home."
The Cerda family episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is expected to air May 10 on ABC.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Two dead after accident in downtown Las Vegas
- Instant Analysis: Debating whether UNLV should continue series with San Diego State
- UNLV can move forward without the burden of losing streak to San Diego State
- A wife’s wisdom shows birth control issue needn’t be divisive
- Vegas oddsmaker expects Adele to have a great night at Grammys
- UNLV makes key plays down stretch to hold off San Diego State 65-63
- Hope and change and … what’s missing?
- Surprise links, negotiated deals addressed by commissioners
- Mitt Romney wins Maine caucuses, CPAC straw poll
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Alrighty..so lets just forget the fact that the Terri Cerda got the house from her father in 2007 throught a quit claim and that both she and her husband are gainfully employed, with her husband employed with the US govt (according to the show).
She nor her husband bought the house. Her dad did back in 2004 and then he quit claimed it to her (and free of charge from what documents sit on the public website). Her father is a CPA in a family owned firm in Colorado. He sits on multiple government boards etc.
First why could they not have bought a better house in 2007 since they both had employment or at least rented a nice one. Why take a crappy 1996 house her dad bought and then gave to her?
Where is all their money going or did they mortgage up the house which was a present?
I am sorry but some of these families on this show are on it because they made bad financial decisions and bad living decisions.
What is even funnier is that dad who GAVE her this house has a nice home in Colorado that public records show has a house value of over $800,000 and land value of $390,000. Gee what is that? Over a million dollars? So dad with a million dollar plus home who gives house he bought in Vegas to his kid.
Now the daughter gets an extreme makeover house....where are the people that truly have no one to work with them or help them or help themselves who truly deserve these makeovers?
Quote on another website:
"In 2004, the Cerda's were fraudulently sold a home that was in poor construction while their oldest daughter lay in intensive care".
From all the public records I see, her DAD (Donald J. McMahan of Avon, Colorado) bought the house in 2004 and quit claim transferred it to Terri Cerda in 2007. Chuck Cerda is not even on the records of ownership. Again the purchase record for $285,000 to her father and the quit claim record to transfer ownership from her father to her is PUBLIC RECORD. She did not buy this house in 2004 and if she did do it with her dad, she was not on ANY ownership records.
Dad owns a $800,000+ home in Colorado in beautiful Avon.
ME thinks Extreme Homes got taken for a ride.
Or all the public records could be wrong.
I'm waiting to hear what the HOA will say about how the new house looks. :)
TO: Vegas Resident
I happen to know the situation with the Cerda's up close and personal...it is funny to me how people presume to know the intimate details of a family they have never met.
Regarding the mortgage....yes her father bought the home but THEY pay the note they send money every month to her father and have NEVER been late not even once....
Chuck is employed not Terri....
Where did their money go????? How about close to almost $100,000 dollars worth of medical expenses every year....
Do you not think that ABC has done this enough times to dot their i's and cross their t's!?! There is no way the Cerda's would have received this from ABC if they were not truthful. This was not a ok we take your word for it situation they researched this family very thoroughly before they were chosen. They never once submitted themselves for this. They were nominated by people who KNOW them and their situation and know that they would have NEVER asked for this for themselves.
One should never make assumptions if they do not know the details involved.
To: Boftx
There is no HOA in their housing division. The HOA dissolved several years ago so there is no worry about that.