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TESH remodel begins Monday

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

COEUR d'ALENE - Lights, action, hammer!

It's nearly time for work to begin at TESH, Inc., on a community-driven renovation project that will be recorded for television.

Area contractors, architects and product suppliers gathered Wednesday at the nonprofit's Coeur d'Alene campus to discuss final plans for the week-long project set to start on Monday. The renovation is being done at no charge to TESH, with the work donated by the local business participants.

Television cameras will be rolling on the TESH campus throughout the week, capturing the spirit of the project coordinated by Spokane FOX28's "House to Home" segment team. The footage is expected to air in October.

"We're here to have fun. These things are a kick in the pants to do," Clyde Haase, "House to Home" segment host, told the contractors. "I've closed shows with tears in my eyes."

TESH CEO Russ Doumas said that as the start date inches closer, excitement is building among his agency's clients and staff.

"We've had some of the architectural drawings that Miller-Stauffer provided up front for the past several weeks, and it's been a topic of conversation on and on," Doumas said.

TESH helps people with disabilities become as independent and community-engaged as possible. The organization has been providing vocational rehabilitation services, independent living skills training, and residential support to North Idaho clients for more than 30 years.

The construction project will transform TESH's box-style white and blue commercial building into an up-to-date, timber-style facility with a covered walkway, new siding, improved parking and landscape.

Kelly Enders, of North Idaho Masonry and Hardscape Center in Hayden, learned about the TESH project from Haase at a North Idaho Building Contractors Association event. At the time, Enders was exploring another project possibility, one she thought would be cathartic, since her husband's death six months earlier.

Haase plugged her into the TESH project, and Enders decided to throw her energy that way instead.

It made sense to get involved with a community project like the TESH remodel, she said, since her business is local.

"It gives me an opportunity to meet more people again. I was kind of stuck in my little world," Enders said. "My husband had been sick for a while, and I didn't get out."

She's finding that catharsis she was seeking, and is enjoying seeing old faces again, and meeting new people through the project.

"Everyone is committed, and they're excited. These people, as contractors, are going to find that business may not be the best as they have seen it before, but they're going to feel so invigorated and excited to be part of this, because it's from the heart," Haase said.