Talk Mold

DUDLEY— A local family has gone from exile from a home condemned for its toxic mold infestation to finalists for the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” show on ABC-TV.

Jason and Jennifer Jakubowski and their three children met yesterday with the show’s representatives from ABC.

“Originally, they started off with a thousand families who applied from Massachusetts and out of the 1,000, they’ve narrowed it down to 20,” Mr. Jakubowski explained. “We’ve been chosen as one out of 20. From 1,000, one out of 20 is not bad.”

After being interviewed at the home of relatives in Oxford, the Jakubowskis took a ride to their condemned home at 169 Klondike Road and led the “Extreme Makeover” casting agent and camera person from Los Angeles on a tour inside and out. Waiting for them in the frigid cold for nearly four hours were family, friends and neighbors.

A nomination video of testimony in support of the family’s application was shot yesterday. It will be used by the show’s producers to decide whether the Jakubowskis’ story has what it takes to make the final cut. If so, some of the footage might make its way onto a Massachusetts edition of the TV show.

“We are excited,” Mr. Jakubowski said. “We’re trying not to get our hopes up. We’re trying to be real about it.”

In October, the Jakubowskis and their three children, Jacob, 9, Clair, 6, and Lily, 10 months, were forced by the extensive toxic mold to abandon their one-story ranch home and most of their personal possessions.

They had bought the home in September 2005. A month after they moved in, they started getting sick. It was common for everyone in the house to have cold or flu symptoms, Mr. Jakubowski said.

Richard Power of the Worcester-based Commonwealth Environmental Services was called in October 2006 about possible mold problems in the house. He said he found the worst case of mold exposure he has ever seen in a house where a family is actually living.

Mr. Power said he saw extensive growth of mold spores throughout the property, the attic and the basement, as well as on the family’s clothing and footwear. The family abandoned their dream home, leaving behind their possessions to be destroyed as well.

“It’s a young family starting out, trying to do the right thing, raise their children properly, and unfortunately they got knocked down, and somebody needs to help pick them up by their bootstraps and set them back on the right path,” Mr. Power said yesterday. “And there is no way individually they can overcome this.”

Martha Kneizys, microbiology laboratory director at the Woburn-based Pro-Science Services, took mold samples from the premises Oct. 12. She found the spore count so high the data were coming up as TNTC or “too numerous to count.”

A 500-spore mold count or higher is a level worthy of concern. The sample from the house with the lowest mold spore count totaled 11,600.

“The family needed to be nominated because anyone that met them, anyone that heard their story, could put themselves in their shoes,” Ms. Kniezys said yesterday. “Looking under the microscope and seeing how much mold they were breathing in every single day, it’s the right thing to do to help this family. And this is an opportunity that they deserve.”

Chilled by the weather but noticeably warmed by the enthusiastic signs of support, the Jakubowskis were met with cheers as they got out of their SUV with two of the show’s representatives.

“It’s been quite the phenomenon,” Mr. Jakubowski said as he was mobbed by well-wishing neighbors, as though he were a celebrity.

“I’m just very overwhelmed by the support of our community and friends,” Mrs. Jakubowski said. “They helped us out through this whole thing and the support continues. Even though we have ups and downs and we wonder, the support is still there. And it’s great to have a whole community that cares so much.”

Mr. Jakubowski started to fill out the official “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” written and video application, but he never completed it. It turned out that he didn’t have to because he had, unbeknownst to him, plenty of friends and neighbors who truly cared.

“It’s fantastic,” said Mr. Jakubowski, who was notified Friday that he was a finalist. “When they called us, they said most of the applications that they received is from our neighbors. It’s a good feeling to know that our neighbors care that much.”

Whether Ty Pennington will lead his “Extreme Makeover” team of carpenters, contractors, designers and workers to Dudley to transform the Jakubowskis’ toxic mold-infested home into a new dream house, Peter and Ellen Blinn, Mr. Jakubowski’s stepfather and mother, are just thankful for the show of support.

“They said it was one of the better interviews, so we’re encouraged by that,” Mr. Blinn said. “They’re one of the 20 finalists, but we’re realistic that there’s going to be 19 disappointments. So we have to hold our breath and hope for the best.”

“From the past week and from the very beginning, the outpouring of support has just been tremendous from everyone,” Mrs. Blinn said. “It’s just such an encouragement when so much of a struggle is going on. It gives people hope and that hope keeps people going. Even if they are not chosen, they know that they are not alone. And that encouragement is there and that’s a blessing.”