MEDIA ADVISORY: CSU Construction Management Class Remodels Home for Disabled Teen

WHAT: Colorado State University construction management students are helping a Fort Collins family make accommodations in their home so that Nick, a 17-year-old with Corealia de Lange Syndrome, can be better accommodated.

The “Nick Project” is part of a leadership course in the Department of Construction Management which completes small, construction-related projects through the department’s CM Cares community service initiative. The Nick Project includes building an accessibility ramp into the home and a front patio as well as replacing the existing driveway to the family home. The project has not yet been completed, and reporters are invited to the home to talk to students and the family about the renovation and see the construction progress.

Corealia de Lange Syndrome is a genetic disorder that impacts physical and cognitive abilities.

WHEN and WHERE: 11 a.m. Friday, April 13, at the Dodge family home, in Loveland (address available to reporters who RSVP).

DETAILS: CM Cares is housed within the university’s Department of Construction Management. The community service program pairs a small group of undergraduate construction management students with community service small-scale remodel or construction projects. The program provides students with construction experience while also building leadership skills by providing them with opportunities to recruit volunteers and raise funds for their projects. During the projects, students also focus on learning communications skills, ethics and team building. The students also recruit partners from the construction industry to mentor and assist with projects.

Previous projects have included the completion of two accessible additions for children with physical disabilities, an office renovation for a non-profit that assists youth, and building sustainable dog houses with students from a local alternative high school for a local Great Dane rescue group.

** Footage from a professional videographer (who is Nick’s father) that has been taken throughout the Nick Project also is available to reporters upon request.

The Department of Construction Management is part of the College of Applied Human Sciences.

Reporters are asked to RSVP to Dell Rae Moellenberg by 5 p.m. Thursday, April 12. RSVPs are requested so that reporters can be accommodated within limited space in the home.