Coming to Houston: Extreme Makeover (Home Edition)

Melissa and Larry have been married for over twenty years.  They have four biological children and nine adopted children (some who have special needs).   The couple have been foster parents to more than eighty children.  Since Hurricane Ike damaged their home in Kemah (a coastal community south of Houston) in September 2008, the family has been living in trailers of one sort or another.

Yesterday Melissa turned 40. 

What did she receive for her birthday?

A personal visit from Ty Pennington, host of Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition, who delivered the news that Melissa and Larry would soon be receiving an eight-bedroom home with over 6,300 square feet.  (The episode is scheduled to air later this spring.)

Reporter Mary Vuong, writing for The Houston Chronicle, has these and other details of this "feel good" story here.

 

Comments

[Ellen Aprill]

I do hope that someone has made the family aware of the tax consequences of this makeover. Many question the basis on which the producers of the show assert that the enormous value of the improvements can be excluded from income. The IRS has even issued an information letter on the question: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/06-0012.pdf
Everyone, however, agrees that the improvements will increase property tax, and this increased property tax has been an enormous burden to some of those chosen to by the show. See the thread on TaxProf Blog: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2007/07/tax-consequen-1.html

[Moving Houston]

Oh,the family is overly burden already, so I hope that they should be tax exempt as a reward for their charity of being a foster parents to lots of children.

[milwaukee movers]

You know adopting to lots of children is no joke so far, so why not give the couple a tax exempt for this charity works they had done.

[Coupons Free]

This couple has special talent to themselves. Taking care of their adopted children on this condition? it's a true charity their giving. I salute them.