The Kansas City Star March 13, 2007
By Mara Rose Williams

'Makeover’ veteran offers his advice

When Kansas City firefighter Stephen Johnson heard that another family would get a new house from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” he and his children rushed to help.
The Johnsons met Jesus and Michelle Jacobo on Sunday, when the couple heard about the good news.

“We will do whatever they need us to do – pick up trash, anything,” said Johnson, whose home underwent the extreme makeover treatment two years ago.

And Johnson had some handy advice, as well.

The Johnson home went up in seven days in front of a national audience. They saw the demolition of the home where Johnson and his children had lived. They watched Johnson dance in the street when his new home was unveiled in April 2005.

Having survived the spotlight, Johnson offered some advice to the Northland family:

“Be careful who you let into your home. Don’t let anyone in your new home who you wouldn’t have let into the old one.”

“People are going to think you have money. Be careful of the financial advisers who come knocking on your door wanting you to invest. The people who come to you are the wrong people. You need to go looking for them if you need help.”

Take in the moment. You will be in awe for a while. It will take a long while before it feels like your home.”

“Remember it is just four walls, rooms and a roof. You have to put the love you had in the old house into the new one to make it a home.”

Two years on, the Johnson home in the 8200 block of East 79th Street in Kansas City is holding up fine, he said.

“It really is amazing how quick it was built and how well it was built,” Johnson said. “I bet we have had fewer problems here than someone whose house took eight months to build.

Johnson was picked to receive a new home after paramedic Mary Seymour nominated him. He helped rescue Seymour in 2004.

At the time, the 38-year-old Johnson was a single father raising five children, tow of whom were neighborhood boys he adopted after their adoptive mother died.

In 2006, Johnson adopted a sixth teenager. The newest member of the family and four of the other children attend Raytown South High School. The oldest child plans to use one of the scholarships they received during the makeover to attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“They are all doing fine,” Johnson said.