Family Pic Summer 2006

    Steve & Teresa are a couple living in American Fork, Utah. They have four children. They bought their first home in July 2002, which is located in American Fork. Steve was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) on his 16th birthday, in 1990. MS is a very unpredictable disease. Steve’s disease progressed slowly for many years including the early years of his marriage. Since 2005 however, his disease has progressed more rapidly to the point where he is now confined to a wheel chair. He can walk (more like shuffle) for only very short distances.

    Steve’s reduced ability to walk initiated this effort. When they first bought the home that they currently live in, he was able to access all parts of it without any problem. Unfortunately, now that he has to travel via wheelchair, there is just too much of his home he simply cannot access effectively. The main hallway is too small to allow him to use his wheelchair in. This becomes an issue since all the bedrooms (including his own) and the bathroom are located down that hall. To access them, Steve generally has to hobble down the hall placing his hands on the opposing walls to stabilize himself as he goes. Unfortunately, this often causes him to fall. Also, considering that his disease will likely continue to progress (unless the scientific community discovers some cure), his ability to reach these areas of his home will be limited even further.

    Teresa works part time outside the home (I’m her boss). She isn’t able to work full time since she has to take either Steve, or her oldest son (who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about 2 years ago) to doctor’s appointments very often (at least 1 to 2 appointments per week). Since Steve is unable to drive, Teresa has to go to all of these appointments. I’ve never known a busier person than Teresa considering all her responsibilities with work, family, and medical concerns.

    Family has provided much help over the course of the last few years. However, our ability to help has been superceded by the need at hand. Steve and Teresa took matters into their own hands, and applied to "Extreme Makeover -- Home Edition" about a year ago, after having it suggested to them by several people (however, we realize that this program has only limited ability to help just a few families).

    Needless to say, this family has a lot of financial needs, and a reduced ability to meet them (with Steve unable to work outside the house, and Teresa able to work only part time). First and foremost, Steve needs an accessible bedroom and bathroom. This can be easily met with a simple addition to their home which would be fast and efficient.  I’m hoping that through this effort, I can help them at least be able to make such an addition. However, I would really like to offer much, much more. I would really like to see if we could give this family the "Ultimate Home Makeover" (similar to what the T.V. show offers).

    The amount of help we can offer totally depends on the response I get to this effort. Please click this link to see what proposals we have based on the amount donated. Please also be aware that 100% of your donations will be applied to this effort. I will not take a single penny of your donations. To help with this effort, every donation will be reported, and the spending of every cent will likewise be reported right on this site (that way, you can keep track of what we’re doing).

    The ultimate goal would be an "Extreme Make Over, Home Edition" experience, where, if we get enough donations, we would completely redo their home to make it 100% wheel chair accessible. At the very minimum, I hope to get enough donations to at least make an addition to their home that would be accessible. This addition would at least include a master bedroom and bathroom. To find out how you can help, please click here , or click the "How You Can Help" button at the left under the "Read More About . . ." section.