Framers needed to finish house

If you build it, it had better be really fast: Skilled volunteers needed tocomplete Extreme Makeover home

There's much to be done on the Extreme Makeover house on Goodhope Street.
Photo by Jack Potts
This was Tuesday. The crew and volunteers have 106 hours to complete theproject.
Photo by Sarah Rufca
This episode is being touted as a "no tears" episode. It promises lots of laughsfor the comedy-loving family.
Photo by Jack Potts

When we wandered down to the build site of Extreme Makeover's project in Houston's Third Ward, we expected to see, well, a house. At least a frame. Maybe a foundation, at the very least?

But the Tuesday before the big reveal, which will happen Saturday, we saw a whole lot of mud, a whole lot of people, and as we got closer to the lot, a whole lotta nothin.' Volunteers are still waiting to assist as skilled workers race to put up the frame and whip the site into some semblance of a homestead. But no one seemed at all stressed.

They'd thrown up houses in breakneck speed all across the country, and even Extreme Makeover rookie, local builder HHN Homes partner Linda Stewart, seemed unfazed by the weather or the rush, calling the whole process "blessed" from inception — first phone call was mid-June — to fast-approaching finish.

However, organizers put out a call late Wednesday for additional skilled volunteers to get the house finished by the Saturday afternoon deadline. Torrential rains this week have put the team 15 hours behind schedule.

"We need framers. If anyone can help us frame we need to get them out here quickly because we still don't have a roof and the heavens are opening and it's raining down on us," carpenter/designer Paige Hemmis told Channel 13. "We need as much help as we can get."

Click here to volunteer or call 713-526-3060.

The Houston episode is being touted as a "no tears show" for the irrepressibly upbeat family of seven (who had been living in a two bedroom, one bathroom house in serious disrepair) and comedic special guests. Even the door-knock took place at Houston's Improv Comedy Club.

Keep posted with CultureMap as the walls go up.

Channel 13, which broadcasts Extreme Makeover, has lots of photographs from the site, including Day 2 and Day 3 of the week-long construction.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”