Buffalo Hopes to Revamp its Inner City

So now it has aired, and I can give a few more of my opines regarding “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Last evening revelers packed Shea’s for the two-hour-long special’s premier. They also packed my church, The Tabernacle (Southwestern Blvd., Orchard Park) for a similar event (following Sunday evening service, of course). Buffalo got its time in the national spotlight.

I think the camera crew did a fantastic job of making Buffalo actually look good. Not the rundown slums on the West Side, but rather the shots capturing city hall, sunrises on the skyline, and Erie Basin Marina.

As I looked at the Powell family’s deteriorating West Side home, I imagined Buffalo back in its glory days. Back when heavy industry dominated the city and good-paying jobs were plentiful. One thing to be said for those old West Side homes is that they possess ornate woodwork and plenty of character. If only those walls could talk.

But one must wonder, just like with Powell’s home, how do these once-stately structures fall into such disarray? Why did people stop caring about inner-city Buffalo? Can Governor David Patterson really make good on his promise to rehab housing in New York State, starting with Buffalo? Will community gardens, fresh paint, and sidewalks really rehab the crime-smeared, slum-infested inner city?

There are a lot of questions that remain to be answered. But anyway, about the show. I haven’t watched “Extreme Makeover” in years. And you know what? I think it’s staged and hokey. No way a bus can entirely mask a two-story house from view. Once that bus was moved, I was about deafened by the Powell family’s constant screaming and squealing. I get it. They’re overwhelmed with joy. But ears are still ringing from the reveal.

Today Tom Baurele and others were criticizing the huge dole of material goods the Powell’s received. They got an extreme load of goods, because after all, this is an extreme makeover. Donating to such a project is a good PR stunt. Whether for Sears, Ashley Furniture, Canisius College, or any of the other benefactors that got some pluggola, ad revenues are ultimately what drive network television.

Fact is, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” makes money for ABC. Otherwise, it would be cancelled. To be jealous or to expect an even distribution of such wealth is frivolous. Someone’s going to get an extreme home makeover; it might as well have been the Powells. They seemed like a nice, hardworking family. They were down on their luck. And this Jamaican mother got to see an extreme example of American generosity.

Regarding my church’s hand in all this? Jim McGinnis got into the Buffalo News’ coverage of the event today. The church got some good press, and this time not in a column that otherwise belittled Orchard Park for its perceived snobbiness.

Questions remain. Can this remake-the-neighborhood momentum really succeed? Does Buffalo have the population and drive to revitalize its inner city slums? The area is losing people every year. Are there enough people to populate the urban core? Will “green” gardens product edible food in polluted soil?

In the here and now, I think “Extreme Makeover” was good for Buffalo’s image. For once the city wasn’t receiving press coverage for a record snowstorm. The Bills were featured doing charitable work, not losing a Super Bowl. And everyone enjoyed Buffalo Wings. I’m happy for the Powell family. We’ll see if the goodwill can last.

Charity Abounds Through a Local Church

WEST SIDE EXTREME MAKEOVER

The tale of Delores Powell and her family will air for the nation to see this evening on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” The West Side family was recipient of Ty Pennington and crew’s promise to raze their decrepit dwelling and resurrect a new, fully customized home in just a week’s time.

Construction was led by local contractor David Stapleton and behind the scenes, my church, The Tabernacle in Orchard Park (thetab.org) was heavily involved in this Massachusetts Avenue resuscitation effort.

Thanks to a fiery Irishman named Jim McGinnis (ok, I don’t know his ancestry for certain, but with a name like McGinnis, I think Irish is a safe bet), who is on the board at The Tabernacle, the congregation was heavily involved in the Extreme Makeover project. In fact, countless volunteers from the community reached out, and an entire West Side neighborhood received a facelift, testament to the charitable spirit of Buffalonians.

McGinnis tends to be a windy guy. In fact, after hearing him drone on and on in church prior to Extreme Makeover, I’d say he’s all but eaten the Blarney Stone. So it surprised me how little of the media coverage was devoted to the effort my church put into the project.

Digging through Buffalo News archives I did, however, find one column by Donn Esmonde where he had interviewed McGinnis and talked about our church. (Esmonde is my favorite local columnist; I must’ve missed that one.) The tone of the column was disappointing. Esmonde, while praising The Tabernacle volunteers and outreach efforts, batters the community of Orchard Park for its perceived suburban snobbiness. This undoubtedly was fallout from the proposed senior-living facility that caused a stir in Orchard Park this past fall.

Sometimes I wonder, though, did my church go far enough to bolster the public relations potential of its involvement? This isn’t about looking for praise, but rather promoting a progressive church in the Buffalo community.

MY VIEW ON THE MAKEOVER IS DIFFERENT THAN DAVE'S

A week ago yesterday, Tonawanda resident and Meals on Wheels Volunteer Dave Hyzy was featured in the “My View” op-ed column. His premise? Questioning whether the lottery-style hand out of an extreme makeover was really the way to help a community with so much need. Maybe it wasn’t the “fairest” distribution of wealth, but Extreme Makeover is going to happen whether we like it or not. It’s sensational television; it boosts ABC’s ratings; it gets advertisers to air commercials. Take it or leave it, this was a community outreach like Buffalo has never seen before. I’m glad my church chose to use this event in a positive manner.

POWELL AT THE PULPIT

This morning at church we had some surprise guests including Delores Powell, her three children, and David Stapleton. Hearing Powell in her fluent, but unmistakably Caribbean English, tell her side of the story was quite interesting. Jim McGinnis was his usual boisterous self. Dad confused David Stapleton (a plainclothes, middle-class contractor) for Ty Pennington. It definitely was a service to not forget…

Tonight “Extreme Makeover” will air its two-hour Buffalo rebirth episode. It’ll be nice to see Buffalo get some national press that, for a change, doesn’t involve record-breaking snowfall.

(I took a cell phone photo of our unexpected church guests today.  Unfortunately, it was unusable.  Perhaps the punishment for playing with my phone during church?)