Reality show helps Lisle family project
Reality shows. People either love them or hate them, yet the question remains. Are the situations portrayed in these shows actually real?
For Mersim and Theresa Kosovrasti of Lisle, their life situation was more than real. A number of tragic medical situations had befallen the family. Their eldest son Philip was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma when he was a toddler. Luckily, their second son, Danny, was an exact match as a bone marrow donor.
That treatment was successful, but Danny was subsequently diagnosed with severe autism. To complicate matters more, the Kosovrasti's third son, Alex, was also diagnosed as autistic.
Life began to revolve completely around the boys, taking them to therapy sessions, to doctors, and just generally trying to manage life for two boys with a considerable disability, as well as another whose health was fragile as a result of chemotherapy.
Since mid-October, however, daily tasks have become a little easier thanks to a whirlwind remodeling project where local contractors and suppliers donated labor and materials in conjunction with the NBC-TV show “George to the Rescue.” These volunteers constructed a combination bedroom and sensory room for Danny and Alex. In addition, another bedroom was completely remodeled as a personal retreat for Philip.
Family friend Dia Rizmani, whom Theresa Kosovrasti characterized as an interested, caring person, had tried several times before to interest charitable organizations in the family's plight, but none seemed to be interested. The three boys were crammed into one bedroom, filled with old furniture, a bunk bed for Philip and Alex, and a mattress on the floor for Danny.
“We didn't expect much when she wrote the letter (to “George to the Rescue”) as she had written lots of letters before,” Mersim said.
This letter, dated Aug. 21, however, got immediate results. Before they could realize what was happening, the show's producers had contacted the Kosovrastis telling them they had been chosen for the show. What followed was nothing less than miraculous.
Within a three-week period, culminating with the reveal of the project on Oct. 13, Philip Kosovrasti's 13th birthday, the family had a new bedroom/activity room constructed in what was formerly their garage, a completely remodeled bedroom for Philip, a storage shed, plus a number of other accoutrements to make their lives more enjoyable.
While the visible part of the project was done by George Oliphant, host of “George to the Rescue,” and his cohorts on the show, much of the grunt work was done by local contractors headed by Jason Werr of JAW Builders Inc. in Wheaton. Werr received a call, seemingly out of nowhere from Matt Wendorff, a builder from New York who works with Oliphant, wondering if he would be interested in taking on the Kosovrasti project.
“He found me through the HBA (Home Builders Association of America) which is the resource people should contact if they want to find a builder because it's like the Better Business Bureau, only better,” Werr said.
Werr's name came up because he has served on the Northern Illinois Home Builders Association board of directors. Initially, he was one of several contractors being considered for the pro bono work, but within a space of four days, Werr met with Oliphant and the show's three producers and snagged the job.
Oliphant and crew basically handed the job to Werr, who said the NBC team wasn't sure how to accomplish the work.
“They didn't know the scope of the project and they had some grandiose ideas of what they wanted to do things that wouldn't work,” Werr said. “I sketched it out in front of them and told them that the bedroom would go into the garage.”
Having selected the general contractor, the NBC team moved the Kosovrastis out of their home and into Hotel Arista, an eco-chic hotel in Naperville, which donated a suite to the family for the three-week construction period.
Meanwhile, Werr had a daunting task ahead of him finishing the construction project within NBC's three-week time frame. He didn't realize how stressful the project would be. First off, he assembled about 10 local contractors, including friend and fellow NIHBA board member Bryan Sebring of Sebring Services of Naperville, asking them if they could donate their services.
“I told them that they had five seconds to walk away if they didn't want to do this,” he said. “I let them know that this was a team effort. I told them, ‘It's not just me, it's you guys, too.'”
Werr had difficulties right from the start. Village of Lisle officials were more than wary of the project, according to Werr, considering it a frivolous venture in which corners would be cut. He had to bring in John Beirtz of JB Architecture Group of Naperville to draw detailed plans, all within a period of two days so that a building permit could be secured.
“I refused to do the project without a building permit,” Werr said. “I told everyone that they didn't want to see the problems that could happen without a permit.”
Work began immediately after the permit was secured, first gutting the garage, then reconstructing the 18-by-22-foot space into the bedroom/activity room for 11-year-old Danny and 7-year-old Alex. Half of the space was devoted to the boys' bedroom, separated by a half wall that defines the activity space.
Also instrumental in the design of the space was Patti Boheme, executive vice president of Little Friends Inc. of Naperville, a nonprofit organization serving individuals with developmental disabilities. Little Friends specializes in serving individuals with autism. Boheme served as the autism consultant on the project at the request of the Kosovrastis. Dividing the space into two separate entities was an important consideration.
“We decided the space needed to be split because we didn't want the boys to be over stimulated by one big room,” Boheme said. Even the bedroom area is divided by a full wall, which allows Alex and Danny some privacy.
Many of the design features of the space have tactile and design elements that are soothing to the autistic mind. For example, both boys have beveled wooden headboards and painted wall graphics in their sleeping area that appeal to them. Modular drawers and closet space with pictures of what should be placed in each spot help keep the boys organized.
The sensory therapeutic playroom, as Boheme calls the other half of the space, contains a number of interesting elements, dominated by an interchangeable swing at the front of the room, chosen because both boys love such movement.
“A swing can either be calming or alerting depending on how it is used,” Boheme said.
Other physical elements include a soft barrel through which the boys can crawl, a small trampoline, a body sock, a fiber-optic carpet with changing colors and a lighted marble wall display that provides both tactile and visual stimulation. These elements, many of which were donated by Southpaw Enterprises, were chosen because the Kosovrasti boys have previously shown an affinity for such items. A video system, donated by Abt Electronics, completes the space.
Like Werr, however, Boheme found that she had to scale back some of Oliphant's expectations for the space, particularly the soft floor in the playroom, as it was too vivid and stimulating.
“You have to remember that they're not autism specialists,” Boheme said. “Things may look good, but they may not work for autism, so it probably wasn't as visually appealing as they would have liked it.”
The order of the day for the entire project, however, was comfort, starting with the way the new space was insulated. Werr installed state-of-the-art spray foam insulation, which is considered very energy efficient.
“On cold days we have already noticed how much warmer it is in there,” Theresa said.
Other perks included a redesigned laundry room with new floors and shelving and a Dutch door leading into the space that closes on the bottom but remains open on the top. The door allows the boys to be contained in space, but allows Theresa and Mersim to keep an eye on them at the same time.
Not to be forgotten was Philip's space, the former bedroom for all three boys. The room was completely redone with a custom bed and wall graphics depicting some of Philip's favorite items. The same modular closet elements, minus the pictures, were installed and a small home theater system, also donated by Abt, was installed, all perfect for a boy just entering his teen years.
In addition, the family also received a new side-by-side refrigerator and a new kitchen faucet. Weir said he would have liked to install additional new carpeting in the house, but simply ran out of time.
Both Werr and Boheme were grateful to have NBC's resources at their disposal for their project. Werr was particularly grateful for the intervention of the network's general consul when Lisle officials threatened to halt the project because of the size and location of the storage shed placed in the backyard to contain items that had been located in the garage. Boheme, who frequently acts as a consultant to design spaces for autistic clients, had never created a sensory space with such a large scope as the one done for the Kosovrastis.
“We (Little Friends) are hoping to take what was done and turn it into a resource for other families looking to design such spaces,” Boheme said.
The remodeling work is already showing benefits by giving the family some semblance of a normal life.
“Philip has a space of his own now where he does his homework, and for him to be alone in his bedroom is helping him become more independent,” Theresa said.
The sensory room allows Danny and Alex to jump and play while their parents watch from the family room, where they can finally watch television in peace. Even minor things, such as the presence of the tactile pillows has eliminated behavior such as Alex sneaking into his parents' bathroom and stealing their toothbrushes.
Such victories in a short amount of time is satisfying to Werr who admitted to experiencing a high amount of stress from the project because of the timeline, the problems from the village and from the fact that he was finishing construction on his own home at the same time.
“I'm thrilled because this is working out the way it was supposed to by making their lives easier,” Werr said. “I did this project because I have three healthy children and look at what this family has gone through.”
While the Kosovrastis have made compromise a way of life over the last decade, the fact that a little bit of good goes a long way with them.
“The most important thing to us is to know there are people in the world who really care, who want to do something without getting anything in return,” Mersim said. “We are still grateful for all the material things that we got, but we are more grateful that there are people like this who want to help.”