Tracie's Story

The Visiting Nurse Association was treating a 21 year old,Tracie (not her real name), for chronic infections of her feet.  Tracie had Spina Bifida and since her wheelchair would not fit through the doorways in her home she was getting down on the floor and dragging herself from one room to another. This caused repeated injuries to her feet.  She asked the Mobile Area Community Support Council to help with modifications to her house so she could take her wheelchair from room to room.  She was in a job training program but was missing many classes due to her medical condition.

Many individuals and organizations came together to help this family.  Visiting Nurses painted her bedroom, Mobile Rug and Shade donated new flooring, and the Mobile Area Council’s Susan Polizzi and her brother-in-law repaired the under flooring and installed the new vinyl floorcovering.  Lowe’s donated custom built wider doors and installed them.  A volunteer group from Brown & Root Engineering built a new front porch, and the youth from Mission Fuge helped with the exterior of the house.

The youth from Mission Fuge came with their truck full of tools and began to work on the yard and the exterior of the house.  After termite damage was discovered, new boards were purchased, broken windows were replaced, and the painting began.

Plywood was purchased to make major repairs to the bedroom floor before the new flooring could be replaced.  The Visiting Nurses Association volunteers were busy painting the walls pink, a color chosen by the family.  Raymond Polizzi helped with the flooring installation.

Raymond Polizzi, a frequent volunteer for the Mobile Area Council, installs the new vinyl flooring.

 The Visiting Nurses Association volunteers were busy painting the walls pink, a color chosen by the family.

A crew from a local television station came and conducted interviews with Jenny Oveson in her wheelchair looking on.  Hopefully this increased the public awareness of Individual & Family Support’s Mobile Area Council and its work helping people with disabilities in the Mobile area.

With a new coat of yellow paint the house took on a whole different look.

As the week came to a close, the volunteers from Mission Fuge gathered in the front of the house for a goodby photo. 

This is a fresh start for this family, and it generated a lot of good feelings for the caring neighbors that worked so hard.  The new look to the outside and inside of their home and the removal of the barriers that Tracie was facing as she tried to move from room to room will surely make a difference to this family that will extend way into the future.