Extreme Makeover: Foreclosure Edition

America has fallen in love with the TV show named "Extreme Makeover," which is an ABC production where a family struggling to make ends meet receives a new home, complete with fabulous furnishings. The building materials, labor, appliances, and even a vacation for the family to be out of town during the construction is all donated by show sponsors, contractors, and the local community. The episodes tend to be a tear-jerking journey of the family's past woes and a celebration of their new start, surrounded by the outpouring of giving in their community to them.

Call me negative, but I've always asked myself what happens to the family when they get their new property tax bill. After all, they've taken a typically very distressed property, torn it down, and built a mini-mansion in it's place. It may be looking a gift horse in the mouth, but it's a very real issue nonetheless.

Well, a recent news article forwarded to me took my thought process a bit further: what happens when this family goes out and mortgages their new mini-mansion and can't pay the monthly bill?
Think it doesn't happen? It happens:
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/16980412/detai...

As feel-good as the TV show may be, there's still a story to tell after the production lights have dimmed… and it's not always pretty.

Perhaps, the show is the equivalent of giving a person an aspirin for a headache when the real problem is a brain tumor. In other words, the new home may be a solution to the symptoms, not the true underlying issues.

Instead, maybe the family really needs health insurance, assistance with food or daycare, or additional training or education to land that better-paying job. Each situation would be different, that's for sure, but these may be some of the true underlying issues -- not the need for a mini-mansion -- however great a gift that may be.

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This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".