El Paso Hero To Get Home Makeover From ABC
EL PASO, Tx. – Maria Ruiz, who was a finalist for CNN’s Hero of the Year award, will be featured along with her family on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Ty Pennington, the host of the show surprised the Ruiz family at their home in the Lower Valley this morning. The home, on the 800 block of Los Lagos, will be torn down and rebuilt this week.
Show producers are expecting about 2,000 to 3,000 volunteers to help with the home makeover. The Ruiz family was one of five El Paso families considered for the show.
The Ruiz family will go on vacation to the Atlantis Resort in Paradise Island, Bahamas,while their home is rebuilt.
Ruiz was a finalist for CNN’s Hero of the Year award for volunteer work she does in Juarez. Ruiz regularly travels across the border to deliver toys, clothes and home-cooked meals to some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
According to ABC media relations officials, construction on the Ruiz family home was just halfway finished when Maria began her charitable foundation, and due to the family’s commitment to the foundation, the home remains unfinished.
“In addition to the visible plywood floors and uncompleted dry wall, the structure of the house tilts inwards-the Ruiz family home appears to be caving in on itself. The home does not have any heat and also suffers from water damage, cracks in the floors and walls,” ABC officials said in a news release. The home also does not have a proper kitchen or storage area to store and prepare food donations.
Volunteers and spectators are welcome at the home starting Thursday. They are asked to bring one or more cans of food to honor Maria’s heroism and make a difference in our community.
The area around the Ruiz residence will be closed to vehicles through Jan. 20, but starting Thursday, shuttles will run on a continuous schedule from Abundant Living Faith Centerat 1000 Valley Crest in the Lower Valley to transport spectators to and from the build site.
To get to the church, take the Lee Trevino exit off I-10 and then Gateway East to Valley Crest. Go south on Valley Crest to Abundant Living Faith Center.
