Students reach out to family in Machias
BonaResponds teams with community to build home for a family in need
Emilee Lindner
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Features
Forty-five minutes up Route 16 in Machias live the Eisenhardts, a family affected by an exceedingly rare disorder. Dalton, 10, and Wyatt, 8, suffer from the transmutation of chromosome 15.
Jim Mahar, associate professor of finance and coordinator of BonaResponds, said the boys need breathing tubes in their necks. They can't speak, and they have breathing problems. The disorder makes them easily susceptible to lung infections.
Due to medical expenses, the family could not afford a house suitable for proper health care. The community, along with Christian Youth Corps (CYC), the American Legion and the First Christian Church of Machias pulled together to help. On Oct. 14, volunteers broke ground for a brand-new house. BonaResponds has been helping ever since.
"Plans call for a house with 3,800 square feet, providing room for the brothers to continue therapy and be schooled at home, plus enough storage for their many medical supplies, space for the nurses who provide around-the-clock care and a little privacy for big brother Tyler, 15," according to an Oct. 19 article in The Buffalo News.
Bonaventure students took part in the construction.
"We wrapped the house and basement in Tyvek, insulated, poured cement, removed nails, readied the house for drywall and helped move a fence," Mahar said.
But for the student volunteers, the trip was much more than just construction.
"We're not just building a house, we're working on these boys' lives," said Rob Ryer, a junior physical education major.
Regular BonaResponds volunteers went to participate in a service trip, but after meeting Dalton and Wyatt, they agreed it was much more meaningful.
"It was emotional," said Emily Deragon, a sophomore journalism and mass communication major. "It's not just their house - it's their school and the place of their physical therapy."
The boys lifted spirits and even helped out, along with the family and the rest of the community.
Jim Mahar, associate professor of finance and coordinator of BonaResponds, said the boys need breathing tubes in their necks. They can't speak, and they have breathing problems. The disorder makes them easily susceptible to lung infections.
Due to medical expenses, the family could not afford a house suitable for proper health care. The community, along with Christian Youth Corps (CYC), the American Legion and the First Christian Church of Machias pulled together to help. On Oct. 14, volunteers broke ground for a brand-new house. BonaResponds has been helping ever since.
"Plans call for a house with 3,800 square feet, providing room for the brothers to continue therapy and be schooled at home, plus enough storage for their many medical supplies, space for the nurses who provide around-the-clock care and a little privacy for big brother Tyler, 15," according to an Oct. 19 article in The Buffalo News.
Bonaventure students took part in the construction.
"We wrapped the house and basement in Tyvek, insulated, poured cement, removed nails, readied the house for drywall and helped move a fence," Mahar said.
But for the student volunteers, the trip was much more than just construction.
"We're not just building a house, we're working on these boys' lives," said Rob Ryer, a junior physical education major.
Regular BonaResponds volunteers went to participate in a service trip, but after meeting Dalton and Wyatt, they agreed it was much more meaningful.
"It was emotional," said Emily Deragon, a sophomore journalism and mass communication major. "It's not just their house - it's their school and the place of their physical therapy."
The boys lifted spirits and even helped out, along with the family and the rest of the community.
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