To the Editor:

It was with great interest that I read your update on the Silva's who were featured on the Extreme Makeover television program. The only other Rhode Island family that I am aware of that benefited from a TV show makeover wound up bankrupt from continuous refinancing of the mortgage and I was afraid this one would be similar in nature.

The good news was that it was not at all like the other house and the family continued to be solid financially with a good income and plenty of room to grow.

The bad news was that the family decided that because of all the hard work the volunteers put into the house (and increased the size of the house by an additional 2,000 square feet and increased the value of the house from around $140,000 to the asking price of over $400,000) they would now be able to follow their dream. How's that bad? Their dream is to apparently pull up roots, leave all their friends and family and move to a different state. I guess Rhode Island foster care does not need this amazing family anymore, one that still has plenty of room in the volunteer-built house.

It’s nice that they feel that they can take all the love of the Rhode Island volunteers with them to another state and help that community fill a foster care need while creating one here in Rhode Island. Perhaps next time we should ask potential home makeover recipients if their dream involves selling all the hard work of the community and moving out of state less then five years after the community comes together to help them.

Rhode Island is 0-2 on Home Makeover shows; I cannot wait to see what happens with the next one!

Matthew Szewczyk
Warwick