About Ty Pennington, Celebrity Designer and Carpenter, TV Host and Humanitarian
Ty Pennington, AbodShelters Goodwill Ambassador has volunteered since 2015.
Ty Pennington first won national attention as the quirky and creative carpenter on the groundbreaking home improvement series Trading Spaces. Later as host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Pennington helped transform the lives of thousands, while inspiring millions more around the world to volunteer their time to help others. The show was consistently rated among television's Top 20 programs and won two Emmys® for Outstanding Reality Program. He also hosted Food Network’s series “American Diner Revival,” a hit show that showcased both design and food in an emotionally charged format. Ty also worked alongside legendary Chef Emeril Lagasse in the TBS show On The Menu. The Mark Burnett-produced show was "the first cooking competition show to give viewers at home the chance to taste the dishes they see on screen." Amateur cooks created "signature items" for restaurants. The winner's dish — decided on by a panel of judges — appeared on a real restaurant's menu the next day.
Pennington has been recognized as a leader in the field of volunteerism for his work on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and his role with Abod Shelters, an international charity that provides sustainable, humane housing for homeless and impoverished city dwellers. In 2017 Ty traveled with a team to Tanzania to assist with building 10 shelters. In addition to his extensive television work, Ty is recognized for his design expertise and style. He launched the Ty Pennington Impressions fabric line with Westminster Fabrics, a flooring line, The Ty Pennington Collection, for Lumber Liquidators and his outdoor furniture collection, Ty Pennington Style, is one of the most popular brands at Sears. Pennington’s last book, How Good Design Can Change Your Life (Simon & Schuster) is an intimate look at Ty’s design inspirations with décor advice and tips. It followed his New York Times bestseller Ty’s Tricks (Hyperion), which is part reference and part behind-the-scenes in Ty’s own home, which he completely remodeled himself. Currently Ty is filming new episodes for the highly anticipated revival of Trading Spaces, set to air this Spring, while also juggling several off camera projects in real life.
About AbodShelters Foundation
Problem: Over 2.5 billion people live in poverty worldwide. That is 1 in 3 people living below poverty level in poorly built shacks, on less than $1.25 per day.
The AbodShelters Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 organization dedicated to designing and delivering transformational housing to needy populations around the world. A need that today still goes unmet on a scalable basis. Our foundation is purpose driven, focused on long-term social impact. We envision transformation through planning quality, low cost housing and services in lifestyle communities like the one we built in Tanzania with Ty Pennington. Currently AbodShelters footprints are focused in Africa in Ghana, Zambia, South Africa and Tanzania. We work with strategic partners like medical NGO’s to serve people in great need. Donations are put to work to advance this purpose.
About Valiant Wealth Family Office, Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary
Valiant Wealth Family Office is uniquely designed for high achievers who seek holistic lifestyle management, financial expertise, family concierges and legacy planning. Team members are deeply involved in giving back their time, talent and resources to various causes. Family Office clients who share our values include professional athletes, celebrities, C-level executives, doctors and entrepreneurs. Valiant Wealth serves the US with anchor offices in West Des Moines IA, Jupiter FL, and soon-NASHVILLE.
http://www.valiantwealth.com
Our Story: Ty Pennington’s Great AbodShelters Adventure Challenge In Tanzania: Build 10 Abod’s in 10 days!
In 2017, Ty Pennington and thirty US volunteers traveled to Kilimanjaro to build ten AbodShelters in ten days! The living conditions in rural Africa are as they were centuries ago, especially in Tanzania. Women and children live in shacks made of sticks, scrap metal, mud, and dirt floors. Living with leaks, flooding during rainfall, and bug infestation is common. Seeing these unsafe and unhealthy living conditions tore our hearts apart. AbodShelters was designed to deliver secure, safe, and affordable housing to those in need and we knew we had to help. Our unified mission team created a plan to address the need in Mbuguni Village, a village one hour outside of the major city of Arusha in partnership with STEMM Medical Ministries.
It would be the ultimate challenge. To capture the experience, we invited Keystones Pictures, owned by Rob Marish and Andy Obrek, to video the journey.
We raised funds to build ten Abods in just ten days before returning to our everyday lives. Seven Abods were to be built on the orphanage campus so the caretakers could live close to the children in safe and secure housing.
We were also informed that Tanzania's political leaders were seeking to elevate education for all children. This required attracting better qualified teachers to this remote village. As a result, we built two AbodShelters used for teacher housing. Happy teachers make for happier students who are willing to learn.
After viewing the conditions of the only medical clinic in Mbuguni Village, we recognized how inadequate they were. Pregnant women would give birth in huts located on mud floors with the aid of a midwife. When complications occur during birth, there is no hot water or sanitary medical care method. This results in one in every twenty women dying during child birth. We wanted to save lives and reverse this tragic statistic. The clinic was no place for a baby to come into the world and we saw the opportunity to create the first ever Abod Birthing Center. Since the clinic opened in April 2017, over one hundred babies have been born successfully. We want to expand the Abod Birthing Centers from one to one thousand throughout Tanzania.
All of this was accomplished in just ten days! In the remote parts of Africa, you experiece challenges that you would find unimaginable in America. These experiences present you with the opportunity to create a close bond with your teammates. This was a once in a lifetime experience that consisted of sweat, tears, and a prodigious amount of laughter.
We accomplished a first! Ten AbodShelters were built in just ten days with the help of Ty Pennington and our bonded mission team. To enrich the experience, we balanced work with fun safari excursions and visits to city markets to enjoy local flavors, music and culture. We welcome you to see the adventure first hand at this event.
Join us on Saturday April 14th to see the debut video of
‘Ty Pennington’s Great AbodShelters Adventure Challenge In Tanzania:
Build 10 Abods in 10 days!’
For more information, please visit:
In 2008, BSB Design, a leading residential, commercial design and planning firm in the US, set out to create AbodShelters as a better alternative to be assembled in less than two days. The advantages of AbodShelters are astonishing. They weigh 50% less than brick huts, are 80% faster to build and are 100% more sustainable.
