On Sunday, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition aired its 100th episode. While this 2-hour special was a milestone for the show, it meant something much deeper for the thousands if not millions of viewers who have witnessed the lives of friends or loved ones devastated by domestic violence.
The featured Minnesota Swenson-Lee family experienced unfathomable tragedy in the fall of 2006 when Vicki Swenson’s sister Teri Lee was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, who broke into her home and fatally shot her while her 11-year-old daughter looked on and her three youngest children hid in nearby rooms. The Swenson family immediately adopted Teri’s four children, whose father had been killed in a car accident in 2001. This soon-to-be family of 10 instantaneously outgrew their 3-bedroom house, which is where the Extreme Makeover team stepped in and built them a beautiful house big enough to accommodate them all.
The featured Minnesota Swenson-Lee family experienced unfathomable tragedy in the fall of 2006 when Vicki Swenson’s sister Teri Lee was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, who broke into her home and fatally shot her while her 11-year-old daughter looked on and her three youngest children hid in nearby rooms. The Swenson family immediately adopted Teri’s four children, whose father had been killed in a car accident in 2001. This soon-to-be family of 10 instantaneously outgrew their 3-bedroom house, which is where the Extreme Makeover team stepped in and built them a beautiful house big enough to accommodate them all.
We truly admire Extreme Makeover’s ability to address the difficult but crucial issue of domestic violence, while bringing hope and inspiration to a grieving family. More importantly, we applaud Vicki Swenson for taking this tragedy and turning it into an opportunity to help protect women and children from becoming victims of domestic violence.
Vicki served as a key player in passing a state bill that requires a picture on all restraining orders – making it easier for victims to alert others what the offender looks like. She knew that her sister Teri did everything she could to protect herself and her family from her abusive ex-boyfriend, including obtaining a restraining order, alerting police, neighbors and teachers of the situation, and even installing a state-of-the-art alarm system.
The biggest tragedy, however, is that on average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in our country every day (Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief). While the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program works tirelessly each day to protect families in Kanawha, Clay and Boone counties from the horror of domestic violence, we applaud Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for their generosity and for the hope they inspire of re-building families and changing lives.
The biggest tragedy, however, is that on average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in our country every day (Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief). While the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program works tirelessly each day to protect families in Kanawha, Clay and Boone counties from the horror of domestic violence, we applaud Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for their generosity and for the hope they inspire of re-building families and changing lives.
Read more about this episode and the Swenson-Lee family here.
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