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This website was started by friends of mine Mike and Rilla Schulte. Being friends of ours for many years, they saw the
changes and adaptations we did to make our family work and not get bogged down by the fact that two of our three boys needed
wheelchairs. Our friends started out simply to help us possibly use our garage as space for our boys. But, our community really
came together and the outcome was this website and an accessible addition to our home for our boys.
The addition was completed in January of 2007. The boys have spent a wonderful year so far in the addition. Matthew especially
since he was living in our dining room.
The addition has changed our family and has made the numerous changes our boys face much easier, we can never say thank
you enough. At the same time we needed the addition Jordan needed his first wheelchair and Matthew needed his chair of six
years replaced. Our co-pay on these chairs was astronomical ($11,000). But, we did what we had to do and bite the bullet for
the chairs. Next our neighbors headed by Tami Cohan and Merle O'Connor arranged for a fundraiser to help with the costs of
the boys expenses.
There is no way for us to thank all those who helped in both of these efforts. We feel so blessed, but most of all are
amazed at the people we knew and those that we did not that came together. It makes us want to pass forward the
giving. We encourage everyone to get involved in your community and it really is the little things you can do for others that
makes a community what it is. These people set out to do something big but everyone else came and gave what they could.
Below is the text from the original web design.
The Klapp family is just like most middle class families with one exception, two
of their three sons have Muscular Dystrophy. The oldest son now 17 and the youngest 10, both have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). This is an especially cruel disease that slowly wastes away all voluntary muscles.
Both boys are in power wheel chairs and can get around pretty well in handicapped
accessible areas. There is also a power stair lift in the house to get the boys to and from their bedrooms. However as the
disease has progressed it is no longer practical or safe to put the oldest boy on the lift. They currently use the dining
area as his bedroom. By having the dining table slid out of the way there is enough room for a hospital bed. Because the dining
area is a makeshift bedroom it’s been a long time since the oldest has seen his room, or the family has all eaten at
the same table.
To give the boys bedrooms they can wheel into themselves, and to get everyone at
the same dinner table we are putting an addition on the house. The addition will consist of a room for each boy, with a central
handicap accessible bathroom between the two rooms, accessible from either room. The rooms will have doors with automatic
openers going to a deck. The deck will have a handicap accessible ramp.
These features will give the boys a sense of independence, restore some integrity,
increase safety, and bring the family together for meals again. In general, it will make it a little easier to deal with a
terrible situation.
We plan to build this project with donated materials, donated dollars,
and volunteers.
If you would like to make a donation checks can be sent to
Klapp Family Fund
Ballston Spa National Bank
3060 Route 9N
Greenfield Center, NY 12833
If you would like to help, or would like more information, please contact us.
gholbroo@nycap.rr.com
Read more about DMD
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