A partnership for dignity

ReFIT, PCC, and the Rebuilding Center help ALS man maintain independence

By Meryl Lipman
The Portland Upside
June 2009

Left to right: PCC student Kyle Knees, Rebuilding Center representative Gina Rodondi, and PCC student Raymond Chan assist with remodeling project. (Photo by Meryl Lipman)

ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a cruel robber. Attacking the nerve cells in its victim’s brain stem and spinal cord, it takes one motor function at a time, sometimes over several years, until the person, though fully cognizant, cannot move, eat, speak or even breathe on his own.

As Milwaukie resident Wayne Lauman found out, however, ALS does not have to steal a person’s independence of spirit.

As Wayne’s illness progressed after his initial 2007 diagnosis, family and friends got together to build a disabled ramp to the entrance of his home. Later as he transitioned from a manual to a motorized wheelchair, he and his wife Kathy realized their home needed further accommodation. But an age-old question stumped them: where to find the money?

The same friends and family who had gathered to build the ramp discovered a Portland non-profit called ReFIT or Remodeling for Independence Together, a 12-year-old organization comprised of construction industry professionals and community members who have made it their mission to help lower-to-middle-income, aging, ill and disabled homeowners remake their homes to fit their changing needs.

A homeowner must apply to become a ReFIT client, a rigorous process that includes presenting income and financial statements. The home must be in Clackamas, Multnomah or Washington County, the homeowner or family member must have limited mobility, and the homeowner must have below 80 percent of the median income. Potential clients cannot be eligible for any other home repair programs, and the modification must produce an important outcome: the person can stay in his or her home.

ReFIT board member Bill Markt of Markt & Company Construction says the program is meant to target those who do not qualify for other social services. “Because they have a home, their net worth is too high, but in reality they would have to sell the home to raise money for the remodel.”

Once an application meets ReFIT criteria, a site visit is scheduled, after which the appraiser makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors. When the Board of Directors approves a project, a second site visit is made to develop a construction plan. Finally, a team of project managers and volunteer labor is formed to proceed with the work.

This year ReFIT corralled a whole new cadre of volunteers. Portland Community College, Rock Creek, boasts one of the states most advanced building construction technology (BCT) programs. In March, PCC’s BCT department chair Spencer Hinkle arranged for six students to help ReFIT build a disabled ramp for a family in Beaverton. And for the Laumans’ new bathroom, 14 students signed up, including three project managers and a floor installation specialist.

On the sunny morning of Friday, May 8, five students arrive at 8 a.m., having studied the plans for the two-week project to build the Laumans’ new bathroom. They expertly drape off the area and go to work taking out the existing bathroom under the watchful eye of the Rebuilding Center’s Gina Rodondi. The Rebuilding Center, located in North Portland, houses the region’s largest volume of used building and remodeling materials and its environmentally-conscious staff specializes in deconstruction services.

After explaining the difference between demolition and deconstruction to the PCC group (demolition destroys all the old building materials, where deconstruction aims to preserve as much as possible), Gina lists the recyclables on the project: fixtures, sinks, tubs, hardware, vanities, any piece of wood over four feet in length. As she works alongside the students she expresses her hope, “...that they go with the mentality that every little piece counts, that things can be saved.”

Indeed this philosophy dovetails nicely with a college construction program that teaches insulated foam core construction, eco-roofing, and construction techniques using structural insulated panels (SIPs) and straw-bales. Second year PCC student Raymond Chan, who pauses while ripping out the bathroom sink, says he appreciates the chance to learn deconstruction, “...procedure-wise and seeing what you can salvage.” For Raymond, the Lauman home is not only valuable career practice, he also hopes to be selected as one of 10 students who will travel with PCC to New Orleans this summer and rebuild a condemned Hurricane Katrina home.

Bill Markt notes that the work experience the students are getting makes this a win-win situation. “It’s a great networking environment,” he says of the remodel, in which students are supervised by industry professionals. “After the project is done, a dozen people will give these students a reference.”

Trudy Jacobs and Angela Christenson, two of the PCC student project managers, scurry around with notebooks, talking with vendors on cell phones, overseeing delivery of a roll-in shower. But they stop when Lauman’s friend and neighbor, another man with ALS, stops by on a walk with his dog. The man has a jaunty gait and speaks with some difficulty, but he praises the work being done and his friend, who is too sick to be interviewed.

“Wayne is such a positive presence,” says Lauman’s neighbor, who chose to remain anonymous. “But his disease is far along.” The neighbor is in his 40s, married with children. He describes his own experience with ALS. “I had always lived such an active life. First it was a foot, then a hand. And exercise doesn’t help because the muscles aren’t getting nourished.” He has read about the final stages of the disease, which he describes as “locking in,” and, while it terrifies him, he says that in these past couple years, “different things have become important.

“The key is to be independent for as long as possible and maintain your dignity,” he says, “which is why this project is so important.” As he walks away, slow but resolute, the PCC project managers watch him go. Then someone’s phone rings and they’re back to work building a bathroom that will help another man maintain his dignity for as long as humanly possible.

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For more information visit the following web sites: www.refitportland.org, www.rebuilding
center.org and www.pcc.edu

Meryl Lipman has a masters in writing from PSU and has worked for Portland Community College since 2003. In her spare time she loves to travel and jump out of airplanes.