Think of Adam Hicks as Regina's Ty Pennington.
Like the host of the hit American TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Hicks wants to help families in need by providing them with a complete transformation of their home. This month, applications are being accepted for the second ReBuilding Dreams home makeover. The winning family will be announced Aug. 1.
"It's just a way of giving back," said Hicks, a 26-year-old home renovation specialist at Cloud 9 Renovations who donated more than 100 hours a week in the summer of 2009 to make Regina's Extreme Home Makeover a reality.
The first extreme home makeover in the Queen City by the non-profit organization was such a huge success that Hicks has decided it should become an annual event. (He took last year off because he had a newborn son.) And Hicks hopes to organize similar events in other cities -- starting in Saskatoon, then moving outside the province.
ReBuilding Dreams (formerly Regina's Extreme Home Makeover) operates completely on donations -- relying on the generosity of sponsors and volunteers.
"We're looking at upwards of $1 million," Hicks said, which includes both in-kind and cash donations.
Of that, about $300,000 to $400,000 goes to the actual reno. The rest covers everything from new furnishings to living costs for the winning family while they're out of their home during the makeover.
"It's 100-per-cent free. We don't require a cent from them," Hicks said. "We have a place for them to stay; we cover their food costs -- everything."
Anyone can enter. Applications will be collected through paper copy or email until June 30.
"The family doesn't have to be extremely broke," Hicks pointed out. "The family that we're looking for needs a new house because it's hindering them in their ability to volunteer and their ability to work or to live their life, essentially."
The family that was picked in 2009 -- the Culbert family -- needed their home transformed to make it accessible to the daughter, who is in a wheelchair.
"She was literally only able to get to her kitchen and a little bit of the living room," Hicks said. "She couldn't even get to her own bedroom. She had to be lifted. She couldn't even get to the bathroom.
"So the reason we picked that family out of the 60 other people that applied was it was a way to give Kelsey a new home and more accessibility inside of her own house. We even put an elevator in her house so she could get to the basement, which she'd never been able to do. It was light switches at her height; it was windows lowered to her height. It was everything built around her. It just allows that family to function a lot better."
The Culbert home was stripped down to the basement foundation and exterior framing and rebuilt.
"Everything else, right from every electrical, every plumbing line, insulation, drywall, roofing, siding, driveway, backyard, garage, even everything from furnishings to TVs to computers were provided," Hicks said. "Everything under the sun."
The first time around, more than 80 businesses got on board, and more than 60 entries were received.
"This year, we're expecting a couple hundred entries," Hicks said. "We're still looking for sponsors, and we can definitely use more volunteers."
Regina's housing boom is creating challenges for the ReBuilding Dreams team. For example, "cupboards are hard to get because they're in such huge demand," Hicks said. "It's not that they don't want to donate, but they don't have the manpower or the time to give."
The first time around, Hicks personally organized much of the project. He even lived in a trailer parked at the job site. This time, he's recruiting a team of volunteer leaders to take charge of various aspects, including: handling advertising and media; co-ordinating family care for the homeowners; co-ordinating project volunteers; fundraising; managing the makeover schedule; and securing sponsorships. The only paid position is the project manager, a student position paid for by government funding.
Once this year's applications have been collected, a committee made up of major sponsors, volunteer leaders and community members will narrow down the entries to five to 10 families. Then, for about a week, there will be an opportunity for the public to vote online for the family they think is the most deserving.
The final decision will be made by a combination of the results of online voting (which will have a 40 per cent say in the result) and a selection committee (with 60 per cent say in the result). The final decision will be made Aug. 1.
For more information about ReBuilding Dreams, visit the organization's website at www.rebuildingdreams.ca or email info@rebuildingdreams.ca.
-- Postmedia News
