ALS is a cruel illness. Also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, it attacks the nerve cells in its victim's brain stem and spinal cord, taking one motor function at a time until the person, though fully cognizant, cannot move, eat, speak or even breathe on their own. But as Milwaukee resident Wayne Lauman found out, the disease does not have to steal a person's ability to stay in his home.

After Lauman's initial 2007 diagnosis, his family and friends got together and built a disabled ramp to the entrance of his Milwaukee home. But with the rapid progression of his illness, he and his wife Kathy realized that their home needed further accommodation. And the age-old question stumped them: Where to find the money?

In response, the same friends who helped build the ramp discovered and directed the couple to Portland nonprofit Remodeling for Independence Together (ReFIT), a 12-year-old organization affiliated with The Associated General Contractors and Oregon Remodelers Association. Comprised of construction industry professionals and community members, ReFIT has made it its mission to help lower-to-middle-income aging, ill and disabled homeowners remodel their homes for their changing needs.


STRINGENT CRITERIA

A homeowner must apply to become a ReFIT client, undergoing a rigorous process that includes presenting income and financial statements. Among the criteria for consideration, the applicant's home must be in Clackamas, Multnomah or Washington County, in Oregon; they must have limited mobility; and their income must be below 80 percent of the median income in those three counties. Potential clients cannot be eligible for any other home-repair programs, and the modification must produce the desired outcome, which is to enable them to stay in their home. According to ReFIT Board member Bill Markt, of Markt & Company Construction, the program is designed to target those ineligible for other social services. Ironically, "because they have a home, their net worth is too high," he said. "But, in reality, they would have to sell the house to raise money for the remodel."

Once an applicant meets ReFIT criteria, a site visit is scheduled, after which the appraiser makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors. After 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.



























SCHOOL SPIRIT

ReFIT relies on volunteers to execute its projects and, this year, corralled a large cadre of them, including students from Portland Community College (PCC). The college, out of its Rock Creek campus, boasts an advanced building construction technology (BCT) program that is only the second of its kind in the country to be accredited by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). This past 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 volunteered, including 2008 Portland Spaces' Root Award winner Sherry Pollard, who signed on as one of three student project managers.
 
Work began on the two-week-long bathroom remodel one sunny Friday morning when five students who had studied the plans arrived at the Lauman home at 8 am. They expertly draped off the area and proceeded to deconstruct the existing bathroom under the watchful eye of the Rebuilding Center's Gina Rodondi. Rodondi's organization carries the region's largest volume of used building and remodeling materials and specializes in deconstruction services. After explaining the difference between demolition and deconstruction (demolition destroys all of the old building materials, while deconstruction aims to salvage as much as possible), she listed the recyclables in the project: fixtures, sinks, tubs, hardware, vanities and any piece of wood longer than 4 ft. Rodondi, who worked alongside the students, hopes that project will help instill in them "the mentality that every little piece counts and that things can be saved."
 
This philosophy dovetails nicely with PCC's construction program, which teaches SIPS, insulated foam core construction, straw-bale and eco-roofing. Second-year PCC student Raymond Chan, who participated in the remodel, appreciated the chance to learn deconstruction "procedure-wise and seeing what you can salvage." For him, the Lauman home offered valuable career practice, as well as a training ground for a trip with PCC to rebuild a condemned Katrina home in New Orleans. Similarly, Markt noted that the work experience the students receive through the project makes this partnership a win-win situation. As industry professionals supervise the students, the ReFIT remodels provide "a great networking environment," he said. "After the project is done, at least a dozen people will give these students a reference."



























INDEPENDENCE

Of course, the end-result of each remodel is perhaps one of the experience's biggest rewards—a point that was emphasized when Lauman's friend and neighbor, who also suffers from ALS, stopped by on the first day of the project to chat with PCC project managers Trudy Jacobs and Angela Christenson. The man had a jaunty walk and spoke with some difficulty, but he praised Lauman, who was staying down the street with his mother but too sick to be interviewed. "Wayne is such a positive presence," said the neighbor. Of his own experience with ALS, he said, "I had always lived such an active life. And exercise doesn't help because the muscles aren't getting nourished." Both he and Lauman maintain an active online presence through Patients Like Me, a website where he has read up on the final stages of the disease, or "locking in."

While he admitted that the future terrifies him, in the past couple of years, "different things have become important," the neighbor said. "The key is to be independent for as long as possible and maintain your dignity, which is why this project is so important." As he walked away, slow but resolute, the PCC project managers watched him go. Then someone's phone rang and they were back to work, building a bathroom that will help a different man maintain his dignity for as long as humanly possible.


—Meryl Lipman is community relations manager at Portland Community College's Rock Creek Campus.