Local 1 PA/DE lends Hands and Heart to TV’s “Extreme Makeover” for deserving family

Life has always been a little harder than average for the Py family. When Carole and William Py’s daughter, Sandra. Passed away from breast cancer seven years ago, she left behind three small children. Just one year earlier, a brain aneurysm had claimed the life of their husband Jose.

The Pys decided that it was vital that this family to stay together. So without a second thought, they adopted all three children and began their second phase of parenting at a time when they could have been enjoying their golden years.

The financial burden of raising a second family has been great, however, and taken its toll on their home. The house, built in the 1950’s had lead paint on all of the windows, asbestos in the basement, a cracked foundation, and a seriously evident “lean”.

The Pys submitted an application to participate on ABC’s hit television series, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and in late March, Ty Pennington and his crew showed up at the Py’s home in Philadelphia to help make their dream come true.

It was when the show’s production crew began to research volunteer opportunities for the project that Local 1 Pennsylvania/Delaware stepped into the picture. The show needed their help to create a shelf feature in one of the children’s rooms from red brick that once lined the Py’s patio. The one problem was that there was not enough brick to complete the shelf. Six members of Local 1 PA/DE – Field Representatives George Posner, Dennis Pagliotti, and Tim Sheldon, Apprenticeship and Training Director Bob Powers, Organizer Joe Battaglia, and Brick Instructor Scott Ferris-lent their expertise, cutting the brick in half lengthwise to cover the façade. The project took members roughly three days between cutting the brick at the Local's Training Center with the help of a few apprentices and laying the brick at the site.

All in all, the project was an overwhelming success. The show aired on ABC Sunday, April 30, 2006. More pictures of the Py’s renovated home can be viewed at

http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/gallery.