The Marcia Brady Effect

We all desire to influence the world towards positive change. It's nice knowing that we have made a difference in other people's lives. Lisa decided to join Extreme Community Makeover in it's mission to make the world a better place last year, one block at a time,  because she wanted to be a conduit of positive change in Denver. She joined the Communications Team, one of the Extreme Teams. To Lisa, the decision to volunteer with ECM was life-changing."ECM has become my community. It's helped me to feel better, knowing I am making a difference, and it's actually helped me to find my purpose and passion," Lisa expresses. She's seen how giving through volunteering has made her a more positive, authentic person. Lisa has seen a complete uplift in her mind, body and spirit. The energy she gives out volunteering always gives back to her tenfold. "I always feel more energized after an ECM volunteer Work Day. My energy level goes up to a 10," says Lisa.As a child, Lisa would visit her grandma in the summers. Her grandma lived in a small town, mostly of migrant workers. While riding her bike around town, she'd fantasize about revising the town through cleaning it and by giving it a makeover. Lisa understood something as a child that she is learning to grasp more as an adult: Your physical environment truly affects your mind, body and spirit. She explains, "If we can create an environment where people feel like they can come together, be inspired, and support and help each other, then people will be free to connect on a different level. People will then see that they really do matter, and they will be able to find their purpose and passion. It's the Marcia Brady Effect."Lisa puts her stamp on the term, the Marcia Brady Effect. She explains, "I watched this episode of the Brady Bunch as a child. In the episode, Marcia (who was very popular at her school) adopted a new friend and gave her a complete physical makeover. The makeover completely changed Marcia's new friend. She started out feeling like a 2 and was very insecure about herself. At the end of the show, Marcia's new friend was more confident, because someone gave her attention and uplifted her. She became more confident and ready to re-build her world - she became a 10."Lisa believes that ECM gives the Marcia Brady Effect to the neighborhoods it serves. Extreme Community Makeover, gives a community a physical makeover and leaves the community feeling like a 10. This, in turn, transforms not only the community, but the people within the community. "We give each community a space of beauty and a space of inspiration. This allows the people within the community to get a space in their heart that they really do matter," Lisa proudly explains. Extreme Community Makeover truly gives a makeover in the heart and human spirit of the people it serves. And, Lisa, is a true testimony that ECM has had the Marcia Brady Effect on her as well. Lisa has been changed and transformed by the communities she's served in through ECM.