Yellow Pages
Russell Hester wasn’t a stranger to requests for help with special building projects.
As a longtime member of the Skagit/Island Counties Builders Association, he’d been wary of taking on too many projects. That’s been especially true during the current economic downturn.
But when Hester, who works for OrePac Building Products, and several fellow members were approached with a request to help build an addition to a Mount Vernon boy’s home to help his family better care for him, Hester couldn’t say no.
Landon Raines, a 3-year-old from Mount Vernon, had been struggling since he was diagnosed at six months old with a rare neuromuscular disorder called Pompe Disease.
The disease causes weakening of the heart and muscles, frequent lung infections and respiratory difficulties.
He had a bedroom on the top floor of his house, said Michelle Raines, Landon’s mother.
Landon’s parents often had to move him and his equipment, including a ventilator up and down the stairs.
They’d fallen several times while trying to move him to his room, Michelle said.
What Raines’ family needed was a special space in their home where they could more easily care for their ailing son.
“I’ve never seen anything come across our board that’s any more of a fit for us and our abilities,” Hester said of the request to add a room onto the Raines’ house.
Hester and friends and fellow builders Chris Deasy, also president of SICBA, and Dennis Boe weren’t sure what kind of reception they’d receive from the rest of the SICBA members back in March when the project was proposed and they began asking for help. Construction was slow; money was tight all around.
Hester asked the association’s members to donate about $500 in materials and labor each.
A week after the initial request, Hester said he had received 95 percent of the commitments he needed for the job. Soon all of the materials and other building costs had been covered.
“It was really humbling; pretty incredible,” Hester said.
Since April, various association members have volunteered their time building a 1,000-square-foot addition on the ground floor with a bedroom, therapy room, bathroom, special closet to store Landon’s medical equipment and wheelchair access from the outside.
The initial project was smaller, but Hester said that once the builders began working on the project, they realized the Raineses needed a bigger space.
They finished up the project in late September.
“It’s been an extreme relief of stress because of falling with Landon, and having him on one level, he’s gaining some independence and he knows it’s his space,” Michelle Raines said.
For the builders, the project was meaningful.
“It’s been an emotional experience to say the least,” Hester said. “It’s been the most humbling and inspiring thing I’ve been involved in in my life.”
