From Home Builder Magazine, March, 2006
By Beverly Saunders, Photographs by Andreas Mantzke-Pree
Juvenile Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that causes mobility problems, made climbing the stairs in her home more difficult every year for young Judy Krivanek. As she grew older and the stairs grew more daunting, her mother, Alyson, had to carry her up and down more frequently. When Judy became a teenager, carrying her became increasingly difficult for her mother.
Juvenile Huntington’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease that causes mobility problems, made climbing the stairs in her home more difficult every year for young Judy Krivanek. As she grew older and the stairs grew more daunting, her mother, Alyson, had to carry her up and down more frequently. When Judy became a teenager, carrying her became increasingly difficult for her mother
Thanks to the Home Builders Foundation (HBF), Alyson no longer has any fear about her 14-year-old daughter climbing the stairs. With the help of H & H Builders, the HBF remodeled the Krivanek house so that Judy’s bedroom and bathroom are on the same level and are accessed by a wheelchair ramp.
“I have read that 40 percent of people end up disabled sometime in life, whether it’s temporary or permanent,” Happel says. “We volunteer for HBF projects because of the huge need. These families are in desperate straits and can’t even use their own home. It reminds you to appreciate what you have because you may be there yourself some day.”
The special attention to the needs of elderly and disabled people helped H & H assess how to best adapt Judy’s home. Tony Arendas, H & H’s superintendent for the project, made suggestions that Judy’s mother and her husband, Michael, said they would not have thought of on their own. Rounded corners to accommodate a turning wheelchair, lowered light switches and a dimmer switch by her bed all have made Judy’s day-to-day life simpler.
Happel said that attention to detail and adapting a home for individual needs should be standard procedure for any remodeling job. “We talk about these things at all of our company meetings — the details that each house needs. But I really love doing projects for the HBF,” he says. “There is such a need for our industry’s expertise, and it is really good for your heart.”
Beverly Saunders is with Land Title Guarantee Company and is the 2006 president of the Home Builders Foundation. Email Beverly at bsaunders@ltgc.com
H & H Builders LLC
12295 Pennsylvania St, Suite 10 B
Denver, CO 80241
Tel: (303) 450-7006
