“Good morning, Creasey family!” yelled Ty Pennington of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” as he and his team of designers knocked on the door of Tricia Creasey, a seventh-grade science and social studies teacher at Brown Middle School in Thomasville.
William, 40, Tricia, 37, Brittany, 12, Makenzie, 5, and Makayla, 5, were then told that in one week, they would be receiving a new home with the help of Hedrick Creative Building in Lexington and local volunteers.
“I feel like I’m in dream; that this is not real,” Tricia said. “It’s just unbelievable, and to see everything that our community is going to be doing for us is just – you know you’re living in one of the most wonderful places.”
William works for the Guilford County Schools System in the information technology department. He said that they have watched the show on TV for years, and to see it come to his door was like a fairy tale. Their youngest children had a slightly different reaction.
“It actually scared the twins, and they went the opposite direction,” William said with a laugh. “I had to run and get them.”
On Wednesday, the Creasey family was whisked away for a week’s vacation at Walt Disney World. Tricia said that they have been there before, “but not the way we’re going today.”
Tricia was diagnosed with stage three colon/rectal cancer four years ago. Since then, she has undergone several chemotherapy treatments, some radiation treatments and three surgeries.
In May of 2009, Tricia’s cancer returned and spread to her lymph nodes, entering stage four. To prevent the cancer from spreading any further, Tricia receives weekly chemotherapy treatments that cost the family $1,400 a month after insurance.
“She does these chemo treatments, and one day later after coming off of the pump, she goes back to work,” William said.
The Creaseys moved into their home, which was built in the 1930s, 12 years ago. Now, it is plagued with structural problems such as holes in the floor, walls and roof; cracks in the foundation; lack of insulation; and extensive water damage from a leaking roof.
“When we bought this house, it was a starter home, and our plans were to fix it up and to resell it,” Tricia said. “Then, I was diagnosed with cancer, and it just all got to be too much with the medical bills. William sometimes has to be both mom and dad when I’m not feeling well, and he doesn’t necessarily have time to do the things that need to be done to the home.”
The Creaseys’ 1,180-square-foot house has no hallways and one bathroom. When Tricia is on her chemotherapy, she has to bring it home for 46 hours every two weeks, and it’s hard for her to get the rest she needs during that time.
“Everybody has to go through the master bedroom to get to our bathroom,” Tricia said. “It’s going to be great to be able to close the door when I need to rest, and having three girls and a mom in the same house, one bathroom is just not enough.”
Jason Hedrick, owner of Hedrick Creative Building, estimated that between 1,200 and 1,500 people will be working to build a new 3,100-square-foot home in the next week. It will have four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, and it will be built to optimize energy efficiency, resource efficiency and air quality. The cleaner air will help protect Tricia’s immune system.
“They’ll be in a nice, comfortable home that’s going to be healthy for them,” Hedrick said.
Chris Gallimore, a high school friend of William, and his wife Denise nominated the Creaseys for an extreme home makeover. Tricia and William said they could not say enough to thank the Gallimores, Hedrick Creative Building or the local community.
“To the volunteers who are volunteering their time, taking off of their regular jobs to come out here and do this for a family that they possibly don’t know – we can’t say ‘thank you’ enough,” William said. “If I can find something to do to help each and every one of them, I’ll do it.”
For more information about the build, visit www.hedrickextreme.com.
Staff Writer Karissa Minn can be reached at 888-3576 or newsdesk@tvilletimes.com.
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