Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and LeAnn Rimes Lend a Helping Hand
“Lighthouse School/Sweatt Family” – With their sights set on “The Volunteer State,” the Extreme Team returned to Nashville, Tennessee, inspired by the state that lives by the standard of neighbor helping neighbor. Devastated by the 500-year flood on May 1st of this year, one image continues to endure: News stations across the country featured footage of a school building floating down the interstate. What people didn’t know was that the Sweatt family had been running the school since 2003. Despite the extensive damage to their own facility, Brian and his wife, Barbara, spearheaded recovery efforts and have helped over 200 families to date. On September 10th, the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” designers teamed up with some of country music’s brightest stars to take the bull by the horns and deliver a new school to some deserving students. This episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” airs SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on ABC.
The Lighthouse School and the Sweatt family are touchstones in the way that they inspire the community by lending a hand. They’ve provided shelter, food, water, clothing, counseling and myriad social and financial services. Many families had no place to turn to and no idea of what steps to take until the Sweatts offered them some guidance. Lighthouse has lived up to its name and become a beacon of hope to a shattered community, but now it could use some support too. Eight of their 18 buildings were damaged beyond repair in the storms, and their preschool was completely demolished. Their finances nearly depleted, they don’t have the resources to hire skilled labor to rebuild the school. Lighthouse has been developing young minds for more than 30 years, but now they’re faced with the brutal possibility of having to shut down the school.
Some of country’s most celebrated performers, including Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and LeAnn Rimes, descend on the Sweatts and the school that has touched the hearts of thousands. For the “Music City Makeover,” the family will find out how “Sweatt” life really is when they rediscover all that Nashville has to offer with the “Ultimate Extreme Staycation!” “Extreme Makeover’s” newest designer, Leigh Anne Tuohy, joins team leader Ty Pennington and designers Paul DiMeo and Tracy Hutson to cram for one of the biggest builds this season.
The series is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It is executive-produced by Brady Connell and George Verschoor. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.