Hearst-Argyle's ABC affiliate in Boston, WCVB, came up with a novel community-related idea that was, to say the least, constructive.
The station updated the network's Extreme Makeover concept, gave it a public-affairs twist and came up with the successful initiative “Extreme Makeover: My Hometown.”
“We patterned it after that show but on the network series, only one family receives the largess,” says Karen Holmes-Ward, WCVB's community service director. “We seek out nonprofits to help so the largess will be throughout the community.”
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“My Hometown” has done rebuilding and renovation for numerous places throughout the area. In Newton, the station helped revitalize a home for people with developmental disabilities, installing new kitchens, a landscaped backyard and a resurfaced driveway; in Dorchester, it brought new life to a former mission that provides services to low-income women and their children; and in Worcester, WCVB created a new athletic and education-oriented community center for a Boys & Girls club.
This approach—which, like the show, seeks to turn around a project in a week—relies on volunteers from the station and the participating sponsors, and from people who hear about the event through the station's coverage of it, Holmes-Ward says: “Everybody wants to do something to help other people; they just need a focus.”
WCVB features stories about the projects on its magazine show, Chronicle.
The hardest part is the selection process. Says Holmes-Ward: “As more people hear about it, we are getting more inquiries.”
