Jeff Junkert Construction, inc. - Extreme Makeover Home Edition

The Carter Family

Looking at the globe, no place is too far for Julie Carter's reach. She's on a mission to find a cure for the little known disease called Chairi 1 Malformation. It is a condition that has more than 85 symptoms and often is misdiagnosed. Julie Carter is very familiar with Chiari Malformation since she suffers from it, as do her daughters, 21-year-old Jade, 19-year-old Saphire and 14-year-old Chalce.

Since her diagnosis, Julie has helped Chiari sufferers in every corner of the world by providing support and compassion. "I keep thinking, if our nightmare experience could help somebody else - just one family - from going through the hell that we went through - it would all be worth it," she says today. "I wouldn't wish this on anybody."

When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition rolled into town, the Carter family was living in a refurbished chicken coop and had medical debt equaling nearly a half a million dollars from numerous brain surgeries. As she puts it, "brain surgeries are expensive, especially out-of-state." Still, this family selflessly used grocery money to put out a monthly newsletter to help arm fellow Chiari sufferers with the latest information.

In August of 2004, after undergoing a handful of Chiari-related surgeries of her own, Julie knew there were people in her own community who could benefit from a support group. Thanks to Julie, close to 30 with the disease gather monthly under the name Chiari People of Montana to chat about their symptoms, the research, watch a medical video, and just be there for each other.

On a sleepy Saturday morning in June, an army of construction workers and volunteers converged on Julie's land to hand deliver good news for a change. With the help of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, they replaced the Carter's chicken coop with a beautiful, Jeff Junkert custom-built home.

The show's executive producer said never before had they received worldwide nominations for one person - that is - until Julie Carter came along. Julie is still dumbfounded at the number of people who came together wanting to help. "For me, the best thing about all of it is that my city, my community, my best friends and total strangers built this for us. That's what makes this whole thing special."

Visit www.chiaripeople.org to find out more information about Chiari Malformation.