photo by Brie Cohen

From left: Dirk DeVries, Derik DeVries, Susan DeVries, Kenzie LaCore, whom the DeVries have taken in to live with them, and Hanna DeVries pose in the living room of their “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” home Tuesday. April, the oldest child, is currently at Waldorf College. This is the first anniversary of the home makeover.

One year later …

Tribune visits with recipients of a home from local contractors for a TV show

By Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Wednesday, October 7, 2009

One year ago today, the Dirk and Susan DeVries family of Hayward Township walked out of a limousine provided by the ABC TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters.

As the crowd, family, designers and host Ty Pennington yelled, “Move that bus,” the bus rolled away, unveiling a brand-new house to the DeVries family of five.

A few of the DeVries family gasped, and son, Derik, jumped with joy into the air. They then hugged each other tightly, a few times as a family, and then with individual members of the family.

“Can you believe it’s been a year?” Susan said Tuesday, reflecting on the day they came home. “I can’t. It seems like yesterday. It’s just flown by.”

A week before, Pennington and his TV crew knocked on the door of the DeVries family — parents Dirk and Susan and their three children, April, Derik and Hanna — to tell them about the makeover.

The family’s old farm house, which the children described as “falling apart at the seams,” was demolished, and skilled volunteers organized through Larson Contracting worked around the clock to build the new house in less than 106 hours.

“Every day I thank them,” Susan said. “Words can’t express it. I’ll be forever grateful for the impact they had and for the hands that touched the house.”

Susan, who has a heart condition that causes her heart to beat more than 100 times per minute, said she still gets the shivers every time she sees families run out of their homes on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to find out they are the recipients of a new home.

Photo by Brie Cohen

Tuesday night, Susan DeVries hosts the group Gems, Christian Girl Scouts, in her home. Many were gathered around the TV, watching the Twins game later in the evening. The family has had gatherings for other things as well, like sports teams and prom.

A music and reading teacher at Hollandale Christian School, Susan said her new home has taken away the feeling of despair that was present in their old house. It has also helped her manage her health.

She said she didn’t get pneumonia or bronchitis this year, which is the first time in several years since that’s happened.

Her most recent surgery was in June, and doctors are looking at performing another surgery where they will cut out a piece of her heart, she said. This would take out one of the big areas where there’s a large cluster of problem cells.

‘We’re still the same people’

Dirk, who works as a mechanic at Royal Sports in Clarks Grove, said he’s still amazed some nights when he comes home from work to see the house his family has been blessed with.

“It just amazes me what’s been done,” he said.

In a situation like this, where people are thrust into all sorts of attention, sometimes it can affect them, he said. But he hopes he, his wife and his children haven’t changed in a way where they think they’re “extra special or anything like that.”

“We’re still the same people, and we try to give back to what we can,” Dirk said.

How are the children?

April, 18, is now a freshman attending Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa.

Susan said April loves college, and classes are going well. She is dating someone from college.

Derik, 16, is busy with football and various jobs and has continued his hobby of making things with duct tape. He also has a girlfriend.

Hanna, 13, is finishing her last year at Hollandale Christian School and is looking forward to going to Albert Lea High School next year.

She said she wanted to thank all of the workers who put their hearts into making her family’s home. She described the new house as being “so much better than our old house — it’s warm and cozy, especially in the winter.”

The DeVries family also has another young woman living with them who is in the same grade as Hanna.

Hardships amongst the joy

Susan said though she is grateful for the joys of the new house there have been some added financial hardships that have come that have made life a little more challenging.

The family is still paying for the mortgage for their old house, along with much higher property taxes and unexpected expensive electric bills, she said. This comes in addition to medical expenses because of her health concerns.

Because of her health, she’s also had to cut back on some of the activities she had been doing, including driving the bus for Hollandale Christian School. The school found another person to replace her route, but that person also wanted to do Dirk’s shift. Thus, neither are driving the bus now.

Dirk said the bus routes had helped pay for Hanna’s tuition to the school. Now the family has to come up with that money.

Susan and Dirk said the family is in the process of trading in their 2008 Ford F150 crew cab truck they received from local ethanol producers the day after the makeover. They will replace it with a smaller truck. They will be able to get cash back to pay some of their bills.

“It represents a lifestyle we couldn’t afford,” Susan said.

For example, Dirk said, the tabs for the truck were soon due, and those were almost $400.

“Those are little things we can’t afford,” he said. “We have to start budgeting for the future.”

Amidst these hardships, Susan said she and the family are hopeful of a bright future.

The family has enjoyed having gatherings at the house, including for sports teams, prom and potlucks. They’ve also enjoyed the outdoor patio in the summer.

Sometimes when people come over to the house who haven’t seen the episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” they watch the tape of the show again just for fun.

It brings back many of the memories of their whirlwind week last October.

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