Call it “Extreme Makeover: Bedford Edition.”

When a local family lost out to a Manchester family as a finalist for the ABC home makeover show, the Bedford community decided to give them the star treatment anyway.

The Michael and Laura Street had applied for the show because they needed to remodel their home for their son. Craig, 13, who was born with a severe chromosomal disorder similar to cerebral palsy. Instead, producers of the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” chose the Voisines, a Manchester family whose home had been damaged by flooding.

Pastor Lee Galucki of Bedford Community Church, where the Streets attend, said the event had a ripple effect in the area.

“Really, why are we dependent on ABC to help solve a family’s situation when that family is right in our midst?” Galucki remembers asking himself.

Six months later he has his answer in the outpouring of support from a community determined to keep alive the spirit of “Extreme Makeover” well after the show departed the area with its TV cameras and celebrities.

On Saturday, April 5, volunteers hosted a fundraiser for the Street family at Bedford Town Hall on Meetinghouse Road. The fundraiser, which included a raffle, bake sale, silent auction and local vendors, raised an estimated $10,000, said Kim Peicker, one of the main organizers.

Before the event, a fund for the family had already collected $20,000, according to Galucki, whose goal is to raise $70,000.

The Bedford Community Church and Rebuilding Together, a Manchester-based group, are the lead organizations for the effort, which is drawing seven other churches in the area and potentially hundreds of volunteers, organizers said.

Work is scheduled to begin at the end of April on the addition to the Streets’ home. Once it is completed, the Streets will have a two-car garage, over which will be a handicap-accessible bedroom and bathroom for Craig, including an elevator.

Craig currently shares a small bedroom with his brother, Jeffrey, 10. Three other children, two boys and a girl, are squeezed into two bedrooms in the modest Cape home.

“I am incredibly excited for the changes in the house to come because we worked hard with Craig ever since he was an infant,” said Laura Street. “We enjoy having kids and it will be nice to have some more elbow room. It will be like going to heaven.”

A massive volunteer effort for the Streets has been underway for months. Peicker, the volunteer coordinator for “Extreme Makeover,” said she has been in contact with about 300 people.

Galucki said he expects eventually every member of his 350- person congregation to pitch in one way or another.

Galucki said the community is showing its ability to unite. “I think the story in my mind is really how groups of people can come together and accomplish something as a community together,” he said.

Some local people who have benefited from similar support from the community in the past are returning the favor, said Peicker.

They include Lisa Readman of Bedford, who was paralyzed when a section of a tree fell on her during a 2006 storm.

Michael Guglielmo of Belmont, whose son, Giovanni, has a rare immune disorder, is also pitching in. Guglielmo has inspired bone and blood marrow drives in Bedford and elsewhere in New Hampshire. And even the Voisine family is involved.

“It’s just been neat to watch how people are reaching out and stepping up to help,” Peicker said. “It’s been a really phenomenal journey.”

Any one interested in volunteering or contributing building materials may contact Peicker at kpeicker@comcast.net. Donations may be made at any Citizens Bank by writing a check to: Rebuilding Together/Street Family Project. More information is also available at www.bedfordcc.org/streetfamilyproject.