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TESH to get 'Home Makeover'

by MAUREEN DOLAN
Staff Writer | August 6, 2010 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - This no ordinary renovation project.

The TESH Inc. campus is getting a makeover, with architects, contractors and volunteers doing most of the work at no charge, and it's going to be televised.

The facility's facelift is being coordinated by Spokane FOX28's House to Home segment team.

"This is an indicator that the community is aware of the value of the services that TESH provides," said Russ Doumas, TESH's CEO. "Our staff and board sees this as an endorsement of what we do, and also that the community recognizes that people with disabilities deserve an opportunity to fully participate in the community."

TESH is a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities reach their highest levels of independence and community involvement. The organization has been providing services like vocational rehabilitation, independent living skills training, and residential support to North Idaho clients for more than 30 years.

The proposed work includes transforming the existing box-style commercial building into a modernized Northwestern timber style facility with a covered walkway, new siding, trees to line the property and a fence. The client drop-off and pick-up area will be redesigned.

Sponsors like Miller Stauffer Architects and Haase Landscape are in the planning phase now.

Clyde Haase is the House to Home segment host. Haase and the team completed a similar community project for Good Samaritan Retirement Society in the Spokane Valley in May.

House to Home Executive Producer Kent Adams recognized the similarity to ABC television's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

"We decided to do community projects rather than individual homes because it's too hard to decide which family or person needs it the most," Adams said.

The work is slated to begin Sept. 13 and the plan is to have it completed in five days. The cameras will be rolling the whole time. The segment is expected to air in October.

Tim Timmins of Eagle Ridge Builders in Hayden is the project's construction planning coordinator. The architects, builders and contractors are all donating their time and skills to the project. Other sponsors are helping with supplies.

"We always like to do what we can for the community, but with the way things are lately, we can't make a monetary donation," Timmins said.

He's looking for skilled workers to volunteer and join them to get the job done.

Timmins can be reached at: 664-4648