A volunteer repair group has made living at home easier for an injured Iraq war veteran.
BY MELISSA SANCHEZ
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07/01/06
Ever since an exploding bomb sent pieces of shrapnel into his skull three years ago in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. John Quincy Adams has sometimes lost his memory, occasionally loses feeling in his arms and legs, and every so often loses his balance.
Once, he slipped and smashed through a dining room window in his Miramar home.
Now, getting around at home is a little easier for him since a national volunteer organization on Friday finished modifications to his house.
Among the many improvements are a bathroom equipped with non-slip tiles, grab bars and an easy-to-enter shower.
'We're so grateful,' said his wife, Verlorene, 32, pointing to a rebuilt pantry in the kitchen that doubles as a laundry room. ``Now we won't have to deal with all of these problems and worry about how we're going to repair things without getting ripped off.''
Modifications to the family's one-story house cost about $40,000, said T.J. Cantwell, director of Serving Those Who Serve, an offshoot of the volunteer home repair group Rebuilding Together. The group repairs homes of disabled veterans who suffered injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is the fifth home the group has rebuilt since it started in September and is the first in Florida.
As part of the work on Adams' home, repairmen replaced the window he broke when he fell, and they installed accordion storm shutters. Volunteers repainted the home's interior walls and built shelves. Outside, they relandscaped and built a play area for the Adamses' two sons, Christopher, 5, and Brandon, 7.
But the family's favorite addition is a small room off the kitchen that doubles as a pantry and laundry room, complete with a new stackable washer and dryer. Before the improvements, the room was too cramped to fit the washing machine, so it was moved outside.
''Since John can't do a lot of things outside, he helps inside,'' Verlorene Adams said. ``That's why we're glad the laundry is inside now.''
John Adams, 40, said moving the laundry machines indoors will probably help him avoid accidents.
''Sometimes I lose my balance,'' he said slowly. ``I can't look up because of vertigo.''
The volunteer organization also surprised the Adamses with another gift. They'll make mortgage payments on the family's house for a year.
''It's fulfilling work,'' Cantwell said, adding that home modifications benefit injured veterans and ``help the family heal at the same time.''
His group hopes to rebuild the homes of up to 65 other injured veterans whose homes could use modifications. So far, Serving Those Who Serve is planning seven other projects across the country.
''What I'm trying to do is to let others know in the local community that we provide these services and to please apply,'' Cantwell said.
