Ep 18. The White Family

Danna White, a pastor's widow and her family of Ochelata, OK, will receive the answers to their prayers when they're told the good news that they will receive a renovated and beautiful new home.

On his 19th wedding anniversary -- April 11, 2005 -- Pastor John White suffered a heart-attack and died, leaving behind his broken-hearted widow, Danna, and their five children, who are all now basically homeless. As pastor of Bluestem Baptist Church, John and his family lived in the church parsonage, but after his death his widow and the children had no choice but to move to make room for the church's new pastor. The church gave them time to do this, but that time ran out.

Members of the church and community have rallied around this family, holding several fundraising events to help the Whites find a place to live. From these efforts, Danna was able to purchase two run-down trailers. The pastor's life insurance also gave her enough money to buy some land. The problem is that one trailer is actually an old modular office that needs to be converted into a home. To make matters worse, the trailers don't have any heat, a working kitchen, any locks on the door or carpet, and the doublewide doesn't have any power. It's been so cold at night that the kids have to sleep at friends' houses just to stay warm. On top of all this, the Whites can' even move the trailers to their new property.

In less than a year, the Whites have gone from a loving church family to a homeless, working family without a father. Danna is struggling to make ends meet, but she's determined to carry on the legacy of her beloved husband and to work as a missionary to help needy families.

In this episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the design team takes on a mission of its their when they build a dream home for the pastor's widow and her children so they can begin anew, as Pastor White would have wanted.

While the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition design team, local builder Simmons Homes, contractors and hundreds of workers and volunteers are building a new house for the Whites, the family enjoys a vacation in Longboat Key, Florida.

The design team for this episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" features team leader Ty Pennington, Paige Hemmis, Tanya McQueen, Michael Moloney and Daniel Kucan.