Back in July we were nominated for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Below is the letter that was submitted on our behalf.
Please wish us luck and keep us in your prayers.
Hello Extreme Makeover Home Edition,
My name is April Sjoholm and I would like to nominate Sheri Reece and her family who truly deserve an Extreme Makeover. Before I go into detail, I would hope you would take into account Savannah 's story and all the trials this little girl and her family have had to endure and will continue to endure as they battle together this lifelong disability. Their home may not look like it is ready to fall down on its own, but it is in desperate need of a makeover since it does not even come close to meeting Savannah's needs.
Savannah's Story
Sheri Reece is a single mother of 5 children. Over 4 years ago, she was involved in a life threatening car accident. The individual responsible was air borne in his vehicle when it struck her driver's side door. Sheri was life lined to the nearest level one trauma hospital with multiple injuries fighting not only for her life, but the life of her unborn child. Sheri did carry her pregnancy to term, however being a nurse herself she looked for possible complications due to the high level of trauma and near death experience. Four months after Savannah was born, she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. She is unable to sit, stand, walk, dress or even feed herself.
Sheri is not only struggling with the day to day battles of being a single mother of 5, but she also faces the challenge of providing the best possible care for Savannah . She struggles financially for several reasons according to Indiana Law, insurance companies are only obligated to offer policy limits (whatever is purchased by the policy holder). Policy limits do not even come close to covering Savannah 's life-long disability. Throughout her quest to find proper care, single parent of 5 and juggle work, Savannah 's health began to deteriorate and she lost a significant amount of weight.
Sheri was forced to quit job as a registered nurse because she could not find qualified care for Savannah . Private insurance companies do not cover home care and no facilities offer care for special needs children, so she had to quite her job to provide the proper care for Savannah not to mention transporting her to 3-5 medical appointments a week. Now Sheri has no health insurance for herself because she can not secure employment.
Before this tragic accident that has left Sheri and her family devastated and at risk of losing everything,she built a home and provided the best possible care for her family. They moved into a 2-story home in Noblesville. Now this home once a foundation for love and nurturing has become a challenge and an obstacle.
Savannah's disability will last a lifetime, but the struggle this family is facing right now does not have to be. With the help of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, this family can learn to enjoy life more and worry less about some of the obstacles they are currently facing with their home. By building a home for this family, you can not only change their lives forever, but be an inspiration to the entire community.
Description of the major challenges within the home:
Savannah was just an infant at the time Sheri bought her home. It was difficult to determine at that time what challenges lied ahead as she had not enter her developmental phases of life yet. As she started entering these developmental milestones, Sheri discovered her physical challenges and have been trying ever since to help her overcome them. Some things are in God's hands. As Savannah grew it was apparent that her physical challenges would make her severely dependent on others for all aspects of her care. Physicians have indicated to Sheri that she will most likely never walk independently. She is unable to bear weight independently either. She is reliant on adaptive devices and individuals around her to function. The adaptive devices have been very difficult to obtain, not to mention the obstacles that we must overcome in the home.
All bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the second level of the home. Thus, carrying Savannah up and down stairs several times a day. As she grows this becomes more and more difficult. Bathing has also become somewhat of an obstacle. She is a total lift.. Bending over to place her into the bathtub has proven to be a challenge. The first floor of the home does not allow enough space for a bedroom and bath for Savannah , unless an addition is built onto the home. Sheri has looked into this and realized she is unable to afford it. She is also unable to find a program that will assist with funding to make this happen. Savannah utilizes a gait trainer (walker) in attempt to ambulate. She does require assistance with this.
Sheri is diligently trying to get her to initiate steps on her own. She is able to make the motions but requires someone to push the walker in order for her to take a step. Hopefully someday she will be able to perform this on her own. Carpeting on the first level and the enclosed areas impede this goal to some degree. It is much easier for her to use the walker on solid ground. She has also looked into solid flooring for the first level and , again, simply can not afford it. Savannah is practicing potty training at school but Sheri does not have the proper accessible toilet to practice at home. It will be difficult to master this without the proper equipment and, again, have been unable to obtain.
When Savannah is cradled through the hallways and stair well, at times, her little feet bump into the walls because there is not enough room this will continue to get worse as she continues to grow. The stair well is not conducive for a chair lift (this has also been looked into) and no room for an elevator...none the less the inability to absorb the expense.
Currently Savannah is in a chair that can be transported into a vehicle, however, the chair and Savannah have to be transferred together. This is also becoming difficult. This creates safety concerns for Sheri because she has almost dropped her a couple of times with transferring her not only in and out of a vehicle but indoors as well.
A NOTE FROM SHERI:
I have only been able to have the pleasure of watching one episode of Extreme Home Makeover and it was a true miracle. Our family doesn't need the "bells and whistles" We just humbly ask for accessibility for our precious Savannah in order to make her life as she grows as independent as possible so she won't have to struggle performing tasks that all of us do every day that we unfortunately take for granted. She didn't ask for this and deserves a fighting chance. We all have choices in life that can "make us or break us". Savannah will be limited in opportunities but I, as her mother, believe that with a little help from those that care and A LOT of love, all things are possible. Savannah and I came very close to losing our lives one tragic day. She may have ended up with challenges, but God put her here on this earth for a reason and I know I would not be the person I am today without her in my life. She, along with all my children, are a precious gift. Savannah truly deserves the opportunity to live life to its fullest even with her challenges. Thank you for taking the time to consider helping Savannah .....it is folks like you that give me a glimmer of hope that miracles still exist. If you are unable to help our family at this time, I understand, but would appreciate prayer for my beautiful Savannah , our family, and the families out there that face the same challenges.
