Courtesy of: Shea Homes

WISHES GRANTED… for one very special family

Site excavation begins Thursday, April 14, and will take a crew of more than 1300 people working around the clock to be ready for the reveal on Tuesday, April 19. The Piestewa episode is scheduled to air on May 22 as the season finale.
Lori Piestewa cared enough about the safety of the United States that she enlisted in the Army ROTC as a high school girl, determined to do her part to protect her country and ensure a better future for herself. She gave her life on March 23, 2003, when her unit was ambushed in Iraq, and has become the international symbol of motherly sacrifice. Piestewa was the first Native American woman to be killed in combat in a foreign war. The lesser-known story is that Pfc. Piestewa left behind two young children, now 6- and 5-years-old, who are being raised by her parents in a trailer home in Tuba City, Ariz. While the U.S. Army and charitable donations from hundreds of people will help defray future education and living expenses for Piestewa’s children, their grandparents’ home is inadequate to raise an active boy and girl. That’s where Shea Homes and “ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” have joined forces to help. The Piestewa family was notified this morning that they will be featured on the hit reality show which has become synonymous with giving people in need of a fresh start. Team Leader Ty Pennington and his cast, with the help of more than 300 Shea employees and 1000 trade partners, will build them a new home in Flagstaff, Ariz., southeast of the Hopi Reservation. “People have different ways of responding to tragedy and Lori Piestewa’s parents should be held as an example of the right thing to do. They are raising their grandchildren and doing the best they can to give them a good life,” said Bert Selva, president and CEO of Shea Homes. “Lori has personified the loss we all feel during wartime and from one family to another, we really wanted to help them gain a fresh start in a home that will enhance their lives.”