“Good morning, Dickinson family! India, Grant, Brianna, Bailey, Isabella, and Baby Sophia, we’re here!”
Ty Pennington and his design team consisting of Paul DiMeo, Jillian Harris, and Xzibit in conjunction with H2 Builders and a ton of volunteers are changing the life of Marine Corps family in Beaufort, South Carolina. Over the next week, they’ll tear down their existing home, build a new one, and bring the family home to begin a new life. But, there is one name missing, India’s husband and the children’s father Staff Sergeant Bill Dickinson who is currently deployed to Afghanistan defending Afghanis from tyranny and fear.
The morning started aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort when India and her children thought they were going to on base only to have a video teleconference with Bill. After the teleconference, they received the surprise of their life as they walked outside.
The iconic bus of Extreme Makeover Home Edition pulled up and out jumped Ty with his signature bullhorn in hand. As India rushed to Ty, dozens of Marines and family members rushed her and the children cheering. India and the kids were obviously excited and it didn’t take long for the tears to flow.
The Dickinsons are not only a joyous, playful, fun family — but above all, they are selfless and generous. Bill has served the US honorably for 17 years (and continues to do so) and the family volunteers and gives back to the community. Sadly, this great family has been forced to live in deplorable conditions. Because of Bill’s deployments and financial difficulty, the family home has become almost uninhabitable. Despite Bill’s best efforts to make repairs on his own, the list of problems is long: shoddy electrical, inadequate foundation, fire hazards and a dining room floor destroyed by a flood. The most pressing issue is that there’s mold in every wall, which is literally making the family sick, particularly 1 year old baby Sophia.
Todd Hawk, owner of H2 Builders, was present to help surprise the family this morning. “As a husband, a father and an American, I am awed at the personal sacrifice that literally tens of thousands of military husbands and fathers – and wives — are willing to make, every single day, in order to keep my family, our communities, and our country a safe and free place to live,” he said. “We are here this week to give our thanks to all the men and women who have given so much for us and for our country, by giving back to this deserving military family.” Finally he exclaimed, “This week we are all soldiers. This week we all are in service. This week we are all weapons for mass construction!”
SSgt Dickinson’s Commanding Officer, LtCol Russell Blauw, added after the surprise, “We have exhausted all the resources that we have in the Marine Corps and the Beaufort area to try to help this family and the bottom line is this house, it’s going to take something like Extreme Makeover to make this a reality to replace this home, to give this family a safe place to live.”
Ty, India and the kids returned to the teleconference to let Bill know what had just happened. You’ll have to wait until the show airs to see his reaction.
Soon the home that has caused the family so much trouble will be demolished by heavy equipment, dozens of volunteers, and of course United States Marines while the family enjoys some much needed vacation time.
Portions of this article are republished from press briefings released by World Design Marketing for H2 Builders.
