Over 1000 volunteers joined leaders Jim Kacmarcik (Kapco) and Neil Willenson (One Heartland) to transform the home of Karen Longoria. Karen is the single mother of 14 year old triplets, Megan, Tyler and Kylie. Megan and Tyler were born with cerebral palsy and were also diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (a form of muscular dystrophy) a few years ago. At the time of our home makeover, Karen was living with Stage III breast cancer, she is now in remission. So when we met the Longoria’s it was a family affected by breast cancer, muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy. Their home, although comfortable and warm, was not handicapped accessible. Megan and Tyler could not navigate their wheelchairs very well in the kitchen, hallways and bathroom. Through the generous contributions of time, product and money by over 1000 people and businesses, in late 2008, “Hometown Heroes Family Edition” renovated the Longoria home “top to bottom.” While Kapco is proud that their lives have been transformed, every volunteer was inspired and transformed as well. The Dateline NBC show promises to be a very inspiring show that highlights the compassion and generosity of this community – even during challenging economic times. Ann Curry visited Grafton on a few occasions and will serve as the correspondent for the show.