| Two local non-profit agencies — Jeffco Action Center and the Denver Rescue Mission — helped to find the families in need of shelter. The families were nominated by Connie Zimmerman, founder and executive director of Colorado Homeless Families (CHF), who did not have space for them but wanted to help. After extensive interviews, the Correa and Medeiros families were chosen to move into the duplex. The Correas were displaced from their apartment when husband Frankie lost his job at a box and packaging company following the September 11 attacks. He provided the only income for his stay-at-home wife and their four children. After they spent all of their savings living in a motel, they moved into an emergency homeless shelter. Frankie was finally able to land a job as a day laborer, but he still didn’t make enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment for six people or feed his family. Dusty Medeiros, a working single mom with two children, was no longer able to afford her apartment after she broke up with her live-in boyfriend and was unable to receive financial help from her parents. She bounced around from friend to friend, with no permanent place for her family to live. “The homeless shelter is a project we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Tom Forman, executive producer of the television program. “It’s shocking how easily your life can be turned upside down when you get sick or get fired.” “These families were struggling with the same difficult circumstances that affect many Americans,” said Forman. “They’d been doing just fine. They weren’t using drugs. They weren’t spending foolishly. They did all the right things and still ended up homeless. It was sad and scary, and we will help in any way we can.” The two families will live in their new homes for two years under the CHF program. The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team also built a basketball court, park and children’s play area adjacent to CHF’s other 26 housing units. For more information on HomeAid, click here, or call 714-662-6822. | 
