Hampton Roads is giving a new home to Beverly Hill, Fred Burdette and their six adopted daughters.The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team, in partnership with local builder Trademark Construction of Chesapeake and hundreds of area volunteers, is in Virginia Beach and over the next week to build a new home for this family, who live in a modest ranch house at 3020 Gentry Road, located just off South Lynnhaven Road behind Lynnhaven Mall. Team leader Ty Pennington and his designers surprised the family this morning while in church services, informing them of their good fortune.
Beginning Tuesday, the public can watch the build from special spectators viewing areas at the site; the public should park at Lynnhaven Mall and take shuttle buses to the construction site. To reach the mall, take I-64 to Norfolk, then I-264 toward the Virginia Beach oceanfront, exiting at Lynnhaven Parkway South, which leads you to Lynnhaven Mall.
Beverly Hill is known to have a heart of gold, and she's been sharing her love for 15 years with more than 35 foster kids, according to a press release. A friend nominated the family last year after the TV show announced it was looking for a deserving family in southeastern Virginia. After raising her two biological children, Beverly and Fred formally adopted six foster girls, who today range in age from 9 to 18. They started in the foster parent program with twins in 1992.Hill also feeds and clothes the homeless, and Fred gives his wife most of the credit for the work they do.
"I'm a long-haul truck driver, so I'm only home for about a day and a half each week," he said. "It's been Beverly who does most of the work and makes all this happen." Beverly says her motivation comes from her faith.
"God told me to feed people just as he feeds me," she said. "I knew that I had to go out and help others and feed them just as God feeds me and my family every day.
"I cook them fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, hot bread ? good old Southern cooking. "I go where the homeless live, not in shelters, but in the woods, under bridges, wherever. I never ask them why they are there or what they are doing. The only thing we ask them is 'What do you need?'
"Even at Thanksgiving, no one at our house eats until we have gone out that day and fed dinner to the homeless first."
The Hill-Burdettes have inspired their daughters to give back to the community, and now they routinely participate in making meals and delivering necessities to those in need.
Unfortunately their 1,200-square-foot home, pictured here behind the family photo courtesy Drew Landkford, is not as giving as they are, and its failing construction is jeopardizing their passion for giving back. Faulty electrical wiring, a sagging ceiling, and a floor that is crumbling are a recipe for disaster. With only one working bathroom in a house with seven women, the house is overdue for a renovation.
In "Extreme Makeover" style, the show will tear down the old structure when a group of Mack trucks paves a path directly through the home Monday morning in advance of the 106-hour build.In addition, four oversized trucks have been coming across state today from Martinsville to Virginia Beach, carrying the modular and panelized parts needed to construct the home. TowneBank is picking up the $6,000 bill for the costs associated with this part of the project.
The program is expected to air at 8 p.m. on ABC-TV in several weeks. The Build Team will begin construction immediately following Monday's demolition and expect to be done in time for the Reveal to the family, after they return from a Disney vacation, on Saturday, Feb. 5.www.dailypress.com
