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Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – Knoxville's episode -- It takes a Village to build the Village viewing party campaign launched

KNOXVILLE -- In January 2012, the greater Knoxville community, led by Grace Construction along with thousands of volunteers, supporters, and builders, participated in the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that benefited the Watson family as well as The Restoration House of East Tennessee, the nonprofit founded by Daniel and Mandy Watson in 2007. In preparation for the national airing of the special two-hour episode of the show on Nov. 26 (9-11 p.m. EST on ABC), The Restoration House is launching a viewing party campaign – It takes a Village to build the Village – to promote the broadcast and to raise the remaining funds for The Village, a Restoration House community including homes for up to 24 low-income single mother families. The Restoration House is scheduled to break ground on The Village in March of 2013.

"The Extreme Makeover build was about community for everyone involved, and we wanted to continue that spirit and encourage friends, family, volunteers and supporters to gather together in groups large and small to watch the broadcast," said Daniel Watson. "At the same time, we wanted to provide a unique way for people to support The Village, so we created the It takes a Village to build the Village campaign to continue the good work that Extreme Makeover started."

It's easy to participate in the It takes a Village to build the Village campaign. Every party host/hostess invites guests to watch the airing together at a place of their choosing. The Restoration House provides downloadable party kits, including hosting tips, information about the beneficiaries, and ways to donate. Money is raised for The Village through donations by each viewing party guest. All of the information can be found at TheRestorationHouse.net.

During the seven-day Extreme Makeover build, the Watsons' property in West Knoxville was completely leveled and re-built by the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team, Knoxville's Grace Construction and thousands of volunteers.

"We are deeply grateful and immensely humbled by the time and commitment so many people gave to the build, and we hope everyone will consider hosting a viewing party for the national airing of the broadcast," continued Watson. "We are committed to building an even better Knoxville community, and The Village is a critical step in providing the opportunity for a new future for so many low-income single mother families in our community."

The Restoration House is in the midst of a $3.5 million capital campaign to raise funds to build The Village, a community that will include up to 24 apartments for low-income single mother families, along with office and community space for the program. The Restoration House currently has the ability to help five families at a time, but The Village will more than quadruple the current capacity and reduce the per-family operations cost by 27%, all while expanding the services and support for single mothers and their children in one central community location.

A portion of the It takes a Village to build the Village contributions will also benefit All God's Children International (AGCI) and The Restoration House Children Scholarship Fund at Johnson University. Both AGCI and Johnson University are highlighted in the Knoxville Extreme Makeover episode.

Volunteers, sponsors and the entire Knoxville community are also invited to a special community viewing party of the show at the Tennessee Theatre on Monday, Nov. 26 from 9-11 p.m. Grace Construction is hosting this event. The doors will open at 7:30 p.m. for an airing of WATE-TV's "6 Around Town" special that will reveal more behind-the-scenes details about the week-long build and stories about the more than 4,000 volunteers on the project. Admission to the event is free. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis.

The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build in Knoxville led by Grace Construction and over four thousand volunteers included a new home for the Watsons and their family as well as two additional residences for single mother families who are part of The Restoration House program. These two additional residences replaced two apartments on the Watsons' original property that were used by The Restoration House. Although the Extreme Makeover build produced immeasurably improved dwellings, the build did not increase the capacity of the organization.

The Village, a Restoration House community for single-mother families, will serve as home for up to 24 families as they journey through the TRH program. The Village will be located adjacent to the Watsons' home on a six-acre piece of property that was purchased outright by TRH in May of 2012. A capital campaign is underway to fund the construction of the housing units and adjacent office space for TRH staff. To learn more about The Village and the campaign, call The Restoration House at 865-200-5406 or visit www.therestorationhouse.net.

The Restoration House of East Tennessee was founded in 2007 to help restore single mothers and their children back to God's good intent for their lives. The purpose of The Restoration House is accomplished by providing supportive transitional housing and team mentoring in a safe learning environment where low-income single mothers and their children are given an opportunity to restore life's four key relationships (relationship to self, others, God and creation) through a personalized, guided plan. The Restoration House, which receives an average of 35 referrals per month, was founded by Daniel and Mandy Watson in order to journey with low-income single mother families while bridging the gap between existing services.

Published November 15, 2012

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