Street Shut Down for Home Makeover

It was quite a scene Saturday morning as the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" crew showed up at the Powell family's door on Massachusetts Avenue to surprise them.

Excited neighbors came out to see the lucky family while hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars from the show. "Ty just waved at us," said one neighbor, "We just want to see Ty. We'd like to hug Ty, that's it."

Delores Powell got the surprise wake up from Ty Pennington and the makeover crew. "Ty comes out and he says good morning and they all come out screaming and happy and his mom was crying like crazy," says Esha Cruz.

Delores's house had fallen into terrible condition.

"All the windows are basically falling out of the wall. The floors are buckled. The foundation is in really bad shape. The roof is in bad shape. The heating doesn't work. They're actually using towels in the microwave to warm themselves at night," says Michael Moloney of the makeover crew.

Construction crews will transform her home into a new environmentally friendly design. "Everybody wants a sneak peak. Well, you're not getting one," laughs Moloney.

One of the things that makes this home makeover unique is that it is not just focusing on a home, it's also going to include an entire neighborhood. More than 4,000 volunteers signed up to help with this project. Many will work in the area around the Powell home helping as many as 40 other families.

With their hard hats and blue shirts, the volunteers marched in force to the front of the Powell home. "Everybody is ready to buckle down and get dirty and do some work," says Matthew Crane.

Heavy equipment was being brought in for the demolition process. Now it's time to "beat the clock" as workers and volunteers have one week to complete the extreme makeover.

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