Have you or someone you have known ever been in a bad situation and known you could do nothing to fix it? Have you ever had the feeling of regret because you know your family deserves more and you cannot deliver? These are the kind of scenarios many people deal with everyday. Ty Pennington constantly helps make people’s lives easier by giving them a strong foundation. He truly has “been the change.”

Imagine living your life right now, with all of the hectic events you have going on. Now picture living in a house with a leaky roof, a broken furnace and not enough money to do anything about it. Enduring the experience of a “broken” home is hard to handle, especially when you have kids and a lot of bills. “The Scott family had been through a lot… Mother and wife Joey endured chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant after being diagnosed with leukemia. Then, their home was damaged by fire and the family of five was forced to live in a small trailer with mold and mildew that threatened Joey’s weakened immune system. (Web 2). The hardship of knowing providing the right resources is not a possibility, and the feeling of utter disappointment because you know you need to do better for your family, can bring one down. Building a house takes a lot of time and patients. Taking measurements, buying materials, talking to the contractor and doing everything again because someone measured wrong and something was cut to short are just a few of the stress factors that can come from building homes. When someone comes a long and is willing to take care of everything for you, it is a true gift. Knowing millions of people encounter situations similar to the one previously stated, if not worse, Ty goes around state- to- state, coast- to- coast helping those who need it the most.

“A family that has faced hardship has their dilapidated house completely rebuilt while they are away on vacation for a week… the usual approach is to tear down the house on the first day and build a brand new [house]… The houses are customized to the families, with rooms reflecting the interests of, especially, the children, and special technology for any unusual medical conditions. Host Ty Pennington usually has a ‘secret’ project which is only revealed when the family sees it.”(Web 1). An episode once aired where a man with a wife and three kids died on Christmas Eve while watching a movie with his family. He was inhaling too much mold because he was spending too much time in his basement trying to fix it up to build another room. Ty saw this and knew these were the people he wanted to help. The families are chosen by those who truly need help and have either lost the person who brought in the income or have a unique case within the family. There was a family on the show whose daughter is extremely allergic to the sun and had a gar time even walking through her house because of the sun coming through the windows. Once Ty leaves, it is like a huge weight is lifted off of your shoulders. You no longer have to worry about your kids getting sick from being inside your house or how your wheelchair- bound child can get up your front step and stairs on their own with ease.

For Ty, the feeling of relief and gratitude shown on the homeowners faces while the bus drives away revealing their new home is the best reward that can be given. The happiness brought to a family who could not have deserved it more gives a person that warm feeling inside, knowing that family’s fantasy has become a reality. Many people talk about wanting to help a random person, but actually being a part of a family’s reality, and showing people you can not only talk- the- talk but walk- the- walk, takes a very selfless and caring person. Ty and his crew are just that.

Traveling around all of the fifty sates building houses for those who are in unfortunate circumstances is something that Ty Pennington has done for years. Knowing that not all people are as fortunate as him, he feels the need to help better peoples’ lives.