When I returned to school to earn my degree in interior design, I made a very sweet friend, Ana Sandoval. I was at least 20 years older than most people in my class, and Ana went out of her way to be kind to me and help me with tech things I didn’t completely grasp.
After we graduated, we lost touch, as many friends do. But two years later, I heard that she and her mother had been in a terrible car accident…struck by a repeat offender drunk driver. Her mother was killed and Ana was paralyzed from the chest down. I heard that Ana was going to come back to the area for a visit to see family and friends (she had moved to the LA area for treatment and for care). I arranged for several of our classmates to get together over lunch to visit with Ana and hopefully give her some encouragement.
The lunch was such a treat for us all and we vowed to stay in better touch. Several months later, Ana reached out to me and asked for my help. She said that the California Victims Compensation Fund would help her with the cost of renovating her home so that she could move back and live a more independent life. She’d had trouble navigating the bureaucracy and thought I might be able to help.
I agreed and set about making a plan. We drew up scale plans for a complete master suite and kitchen renovation to allow Ana to live and work independently in her home. We submitted bids and specifications to the state and were told that the budget set aside for Ana would not even cover the cost of the Master Suite renovation. The agency proposed Laurel Mississippi level funding for a California makeover. We were discouraged but not dissuaded.
I approached my good friend, Amelia Wallace, my flooring advisor at House of Carpets, owned by Flooring Liquidators, for help. She brought the project to Steve Kellogg, owner of Flooring Liquidators, and he committed materials to the cause.
We went several rounds with CVCF to clarify Ana’s injuries and special design considerations necessary to meet her particular needs. At one point her case was accidentally closed and we had to petition the agency to re-open it. We walked 3 separate contractors through the space and only one of them, Dean Adkins of Adkins Construction, agreed to commit. With Dean spearheading the team, Joe Smith, from API Architects in Modesto, agreed to do our drawings for permits to proceed…free of charge. The City of Ceres gave us the green light and the project was a go.
Many of our local partners helped us with the cost, allowing us to purchase at or just above cost to conserve the budget. In addition to Flooring Liquidators generous gift of the flooring, vanity countertop, shower surround and shower floor, we had assistance from Abe’s Discount Plumbing, Phillips Lighting and Home, Pursley’s Window Coverings and The Neat Freak, Co. Shelby Cornett of the Neat Freak Co. even raised money on a social media campaign to fund Ana’s custom closet solution from the Container Store and Shelby and her staff donated their time to move Ana into her new beautiful space.
It took seven years from the moment I agreed to take on the project to it’s completion. Round after round of plans, budgeting, injury clarification and justification for specialty design features, changes in caseworkers, state surveys of the site for code references and standards made it feel as though we may never be successful, but Ana’s patient spirit and the generosity of so many of our project partners made the project a beautiful success. Now Ana is back home, enjoying the independence of a master suite designed especially for her, able to see her friends and family and get the support of so many who love her in person.
Thank you, Flooring Liquidators, for your incredible support. You have changed my friend’s life forever and I am so grateful. And to all of those who came alongside to help….thank you for never giving up on the dream of a safe, secure space for Ana to enjoy every day.