April 23, 2009

Contact: Amy Hewes
College of Engineering
805-756-6402
ahewes@calpoly.edu

PolyHouse 2009 to Renovate Home of Disabled 16-Year-Old

Cal Poly Professor Roya Javadpour and her project management class are about to undertake their annual home renovation service project, this time for a 16-year-old disabled girl and her aging grandparents.

Confined to a wheelchair, the girl was born with a heart defect; she became severely and permanently disabled after suffering a coma. Her primary caregivers are her grandparents, who have also parented over 20 foster children. The planned PolyHouse renovations will enhance their home environment, help them manage physical care for their granddaughter, and provide an emotional boost after years of care giving.

Javadpour's students hope to raise more than $50,000 in donations of cash, building materials and other assistance for repairs and improvements for the home of the young woman and her grandparents.

The PolyHouse students will work on the San Miguel home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 9, 10, and 11, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 17, 18, and 19. The project goals are to improve the accessibility, safety and comfort of the women's home and to complete household repairs that would otherwise go undone.

“The project opens students' eyes to social need and community service,” Javadpour said.

Each year Javadpour and her students work with social service agencies to find potential PolyHouse project clients. “There are a lot of families who have a need for help, but we also have to find someone with a home that offers a suitably complex set of issues for the students to tackle in a renovation,” she said.

The educational purpose of the class is to give students hands-on experience planning and managing a technical project involving fundraising, scheduling, supply management, team recruitment, resource allocation, time and cost budgeting, risk assessment, task coordination, project monitoring, and post-project assessment, Javadpour explained.

Javadpour's project management students come from a variety of backgrounds, including business, engineering management, and industrial and manufacturing engineering. Central Coast businesses and construction companies give the Poly House project tremendous support.

For information on the project and a complete list of supporters see www.polyhouse.org.

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