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Indianapolis has earned a national reputation for civic enterprise. In the 20th century, legendaries like Tom Binford, John Burkhart, and Jim Morris used their wealth and position to build up the local economy and create healthier communities. Into these ranks fall men like homebuilder Paul Estridge—businessmen who are taking their expertise to the places where it is needed most, but least likely to be found, like Indianapolis’ Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood.

Extreme Citizenship: Paul Estridge

Paul Estridge does not consider himself a homebuilder as much as a community builder. When ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” approached Estridge—one of Indianapolis’ most prominent home builders—about participating in the show, he agreed. On one condition: he would remodel not just one house, but contribute to the entire Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, a low-income community on the near Eastside of Indianapolis.

Selected as the main recipient of the “Makeover,” Bernard McFarland, public school teacher and single father, was raising three sons in deteriorating two-story that he also used as a base for his mentoring program for neighborhood kids.

Read the full story of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” here

While McFarland and his three sons vacationed in Paris—on ABC’s dollar—Estridge and his team rebuilt the McFarland home on a much grander scale and built an adjacent library for McFarland’s mentoring program. In addition, Estridge rallied support from more than 200 other Indianapolis businesses and 5,000 volunteers to demolish abandoned houses, paint and repair to other neighborhood homes, repave a five-mile stretch of alleys, and plant 1,500 trees. The Estridge Company also utilized its technology prowess to create a fiber optic canopy that gave internet access to all of the households within a square-mile radius of the McFarland home. Meanwhile, Dell donated 100 laptop computers to local families.

"America's a nation of builders," Estridge said. "We build our businesses, homes, and communities.  We build hope and opportunities, and in the toughest of times we never quit. And there's something good that happens. We realize what we really care about, faith, family, and friends are all that really matter. When we talk about building better lives that's exactly what we mean."

The bright lights of ABC may have dimmed in Martindale-Brightwood as the film crews left town but the flame of citizenship and a shared sense of community continue to grow. Meanwhile, the work of rebuilding the Eastside has just begun.