But Joe Kittel intends to make sure it happens.

Joe’s 28-year-old son, Aaron, has suffered from Friedreich’s ataxia, a form of muscular dystrophy, since he was a teen.

The independent young man has slowly been forced to change his lifestyle as the degenerative disease progresses. It causes him to lose muscle control and coordination over time.

He’s been living on his own in Fort Collins for a while, but he was looking for something more accessible for him as his muscles weaken, and he wanted to be closer to his family in Loveland.

Aaron went to the Loveland Housing Authority for some help finding accessible housing.

About the same time, a 1,600-square-foot Housing Authority-owned house in downtown Loveland became vacant.

All the pieces fell into place.

Loveland Housing Authority officials decided to help Aaron build his very own completely accessible house. Aaron will rent the house from the Housing Authority.

Joe Kittel was pumped. He immediately started signing up volunteers and asking for material donations.

“We’re getting there,” Joe said. “It’s amazing. I’d say we’re about 10 percent of the way there.”

The house will be completely renovated — going from four bedrooms to three, with a large bathroom and wide hallways. The whole thing will be completely handicapped-accessible, from ramps outside to a roll-in shower inside.

“This house will remain accessible forever now,” said public housing coordinator Nicole Hildebrand. “Just even looking on into the future, we’ve helped Aaron now, and there’s also future people this project can help.”

Volunteers broke ground on the project in early October and hope to have the whole thing finished by January.

The Loveland Housing Authority has a little more than $20,000 it can contribute to the $64,000 job. All the rest will have to come from the community, Joe said.

“In a sense, what we’re trying to do here is bring the community together,” he said. “So far, it’s just been an outpouring of all forms.”

Picture: Aaron Kittel, center, greets visitors Saturday during an open house for members of the community and volunteers who helped remodel his home to make it fully accessible for someone in a wheelchair. The house is owned by the Loveland Housing Authority Reporter-Herald/Steve Stoner

Amazing remodel:
Volunteers put in more than 1,000 hours to make home accessible to disabled tenants

 By Ann Depperschmidt
The Daily Reporter-Herald
Loveland, Colorado

February 21, 2006

 The project wasn’t televised or hyped with Hollywood grandeur.

But more than 150 people pitched in to make Aaron Kittel’s home completely wheelchair-accessible — a project worth more than $100,000 — in a local version of Extreme Makeover.

“It was fun for some folks to get to do what they see on TV and make a difference,” said Sue Kittel, Aaron’s mom.

Aaron, who’s in his late 20s, has Friedreich’s ataxia, a progressive neuromuscular disorder that requires him to use a wheelchair.

He was living in a small apartment in Fort Collins for the past five years. But when he had to start using a power chair that helps him conserve energy, he had to move to a more-accessible place.

“At the beginning of each day, while my aide is still with me, I have to decide whether or not I want to go outside much or stay inside for most of the day,” Aaron wrote the Housing Authority in September about his Fort Collins apartment. “This decision determines which chair I get helped into for the day.”

Aaron even put off getting the power chair because it was so difficult to use in his old place, Sue said.

Enter Loveland’s Housing Authority.

The Kittels called Housing Authority officials to see if Aaron could find accessible housing in Loveland.

At the same time, a Housing Authority-owned house in downtown Loveland became vacant.

So Housing Authority officials decided to help remodel the home to make it completely wheelchair-accessible for Aaron to rent.

For almost three months, people worked. They rebuilt the back of the house, widened the hallway, reinforced walls with plywood for grab bars, built a large bathroom and installed a roll-in shower.

Workers lowered the light switches, built a ramp in the backyard and installed a video monitor that allows Aaron to see who’s ringing the doorbell and unlock the front door from his bedroom.

“It’s amazing,” Aaron said. “Especially when I’d come over and they’d be working and I would see what they had done.”

All those workers thought of everything: The plumber noticed that a person in a wheelchair would be unable to access the crawl space to shut off the water main. So workers installed a button in the hallway that Aaron can use to turn off the water if the house starts flooding.

“We just feel so blessed that so many workers were out here,” Sue said. “And we never dreamed of something this wonderful.”

Housing Authority paid about $40,000 for the project — the first fully wheelchair-accessible house that the Housing Authority owns in Loveland, said public housing coordinator Nicole Hildebrand.

“We knew there would be people who would step on board and donate,” Hildebrand said. “But not like this.”

Volunteers logged more than 1,100 hours of labor.

Local businesses and organizations, schools, churches and individuals donated labor and all sorts of supplies — lunches, doors, trim, dishwasher, gift cards, insulation, gravel, fence, paint, lumber and sheetrock.

“This really fulfills a need for society,” Sue said. “People who are Aaron’s age should be able to move out and live on their own. Part of the adult experience is being able to move out.”

The Housing Authority will be able to use the house for future disabled tenants, and the Kittels hope the house will be a showcase for future projects.

“This could be done again,” said Aaron’s father, Joe Kittel.

Aaron moved in at the end of January and hosted an open house Saturday to thank all those who had helped — after all, printing their names in the newspaper “would take a couple pages,” Aaron said with a laugh.

“It’s pretty hard to thank people in person,” Sue said. “You get all choked up.”