• Unemployed Volunteers Giving Back
• Habitat for Humanity House in Monroe involved student work
• Disabled mom eager to move into accessible Habitat home
• Habitat for Humanity's ‘Weekend Build' kicks off
• Wanted: Future homeowners
• Blitz Build to wrap up with home dedications
• Airport student incorporates work with Habitat into Eagle Scout project
• Blitz on in bid to build 3 new houses in 12 days
• Stepping up to help out
• Senior makes most of opportunity
• Students team up to build Habitat house

Disabled mom eager to move into accessible Habitat home

Article published Thursday, September 21, 2006
MONROE COUNTY

By BENJAMIN ALEXANDER-BLOCH
BLADE STAFF WRITER

link to this article @ ToledoBlade.com

MONROE - For the first time in her life, Jill Caruso, 41, will be able to get around her house without the help of others.

But to gain this newfound independence, she will need the help of about 20 handy, "Humane" volunteers for a total of 12 days.

Born with the neurological disorder spina bifida, Ms. Caruso is paralyzed from the waist down.

Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County picked her family out of about 60 applicants for one of the two homes it is building on weekends until Oct. 21.

Her house will be completely wheelchair-accessible.

"I just can't believe I am going to be able to do everything myself. I am pretty independent - I moved out when I was 17 years old, and it is even more difficult when you have children, because you want to do everything for them. But right now I can't do it. I can't even cook for them," she said.

Ms. Caruso has a son, Devan, 12, in eighth-grade at Monroe Middle School, and a daughter, Mia, 1.

She calls them both "miracle children" because "doctors have always told me that I couldn't have kids."

There are 70,000 people in the United States with spina bifida, the most common permanently disabling birth defect, according to Spina Bifida Association of America. There is no cure for the condition. Symptoms vary from full paralysis to impaired learning and social development .

Ms. Caruso's new three-bedroom home will have larger-than-normal doorways so she can navigate her wheelchair readily. It will have counter tops at wheelchair height, a refrigerator and freezer that are side by side, and a dishwasher that will open like a microwave, left-to-right; and all the house's electrical plugs will be slightly higher than normal so they are within her reach.

At times, Ms. Caruso may have overwhelmed Habitat for Humanity with suggestions.

"Sometimes I know Habitat probably wanted to choke me, but I just wanted to make sure that ev-erything was accessible because I will probably live there for the rest of my life," she said.

Construction on the two homes was delayed about a month because of design changes.

But Ms. Caruso has waited much longer than that.

She applied for a house about five years ago, but Habitat for Humanity turned her down because she had bad credit.

Most of this $25,000 credit card debt came from debts her fiance had accrued before their engagement crumbled.

"When I tried to fight it in court, the judge said, 'Shame on you. You shouldn't have put everything in your name,'" she said.

So for the last five years she has worked three jobs, on and off, to get out of debt. She is an independent-living specialist at the Ability Center of Greater Toledo and a salesman at Gap, and she gives talks at trade shows for The Medical Center in Bowling Green.

Because she has paid off the debt, Habitat for Humanity approved her application. The mortgage payments are expected to be around $550 a month, Ms. Caruso said.

Each home costs about $80,000 to build, paid for by donations and fund-raisers, said Debra Wykes, executive director of the Monroe chapter.

"Now I may be able to save a little money and be able to do some fun things with my kids eventually," said Ms. Caruso.

Ms. Wykes said families are chosen based on their need, their ability to make mortgage payments, and their willingness to complete the 250 hours-per- adult volunteer work required, called "sweat equity."

A typical family unit of three needs to make between $18,850 and $41,000 to qualify.

By the end of the year, the Monroe chapter will have completed 31 homes since its founding in 1995, said Dana Brown, director of volunteer relations.

The Caruso home is being built at 1023 Mulhollen Drive in Monroe Township. The other, for LC and Shauna Rouser and their family, is going up at 710 Palmwood St. in Monroe. It is a four-bedroom home with a basement.

Building on both houses began last Saturday and Sunday and will continue on weekends, ending Oct. 21.

Ms. Wykes said a dedication ceremony will be held 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at Ms. Caruso's home.

Contact Benjamin Alexander-Bloch
at: [ email ]
or 419-724-6050.