Every week people around the country watch “Extreme Home Makeover” to see Ty Pennington and his team recreate the home of a family in need. Viewers learn about each families’ extraordinary stories, hear the infamous “Move that bus!” and watch the families reactions as they see their home transformed into a more functional and livable space.
Now, thanks to a class at Cal Poly, a family equally in need in San Miguel is watching their home be renovated as well.
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering 556, a class with a focus on project management, is currently renovating the home of Samantha Reuck, a 16-year-old girl who has been suffering from seizures all her life. Reuck’s grandparents have adopted her and work hard to accommodate her special needs. But as a growing individual, working with her has become more and more difficult as she’s gotten older.
Reuck suffered complications during her last surgery and was in a coma for 12 days. Subsequently, she has become completely dependent on others, mostly her grandparents, to function.
“They were living in really poor conditions,” industrial and manufacturing engineering graduate student and coordination project manager James Pickering said. “When we first talked to them, Mrs. Reuck said that ‘anything we could manage would be appreciated.’”
The Poly House crew plans on putting in a roll-in, wheelchair accessible, shower. They’re also expanding the doorway of the bathroom so her grandparents can more easily carry her through the space. A new heating system is being put in the home to accommodate Reuck’s sensitivity to temperature.
Poly House has extended the entire house two feet, despite early reports that it couldn’t be done. The expansion makes it possible to add another bedroom and create her roll-in shower.
They will also be installing a track attached to the ceiling that will run from Reuck’s bedroom to the living room, where she spends most of her time. This way the family won’t have to push or carry her, but rather, they will be able to slide her along. They’re also widening the window in her room for better viewing.
Since Reuck’s grandparents want their house to be a safe haven for neighborhood children to play in, Poly House will be installing a large play structure, a half basketball court and a vegetable garden in the surrounding land.
Poly House has been an annual project that has been making over homes for local families since 2004. Planning on the Reuck house project started in mid-April and construction began last weekend and will finish this upcoming weekend. This week will be used for progress analysis and status reports as well as any adjustments that might be needed.
Poly House is almost entirely dependant on sponsors and fundraisers to fund the project and has benefited from the donations of many local businesses. Drywall Dynamic and Tarlton and Sons are just two local businesses that have donated over 30 sheets of drywall and other materials, while San Luis Marble and Granite donated granite tabletop for the kitchen.
Regional Transit Authority has also donated their services to help volunteers and workers to and from the site. “It’s an 80 mile roundtrip that they do for us twice a day,” Steven Kilbert, the logistics project manager said. “It’s saved us a lot of money in gas now that we won’t have to try to transport all of these people everyday.”
San Luis Obispo County assisted in the project by approving their building permits in a day, a process that otherwise could take up to a year, and waived the fees for the permits.
The group hopes to continue fundraising for the project. Until next Sunday, portions of participants’ purchases at Jamba Juice on Foothill Boulevard will be donated. Panda Express, also on Foothill Boulevard, will donate a portion of their profits on Wednesday from 2 p.m. until close. A benefit concert will be held at the Carlton Hotel in Atascadero on Thursday night. Guests need to bring the flyers that can be printed out from the Poly House Web site to ensure that proceeds go to the philanthropy.
“It’s surprising how many people were willing to help, considering the economic climate,” kitchen project manager Erika Miller said. “One of the donors told me that the only way a project like this could happen was because of our ‘Poly House magic’ and that there’s no other way something like this is tangible.”