Beth in Her House!

by Jackie Rybeck
     
     WEST PARIS – In May of 2009, the community of Oxford Hills got word of 24-year-old Beth Coffin, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. Both parent, Gary and Bonnie suffer from chronic Lyme disease and much of their day is spent caring for Beth.
     The trailer they had been living in was falling apart around them and Beth needed a new home; a home safe from weak floors, cracked walls and a moldy basement.
     Community members formed Beth’s House Committee and in a year and a half, have held fundraisers, asked for donations and coordinated volunteers to construct a new home on land that Gary and Bonnie purchased from the sale of the trailer.
     Moving in took place this weekend and no one could be happier than Beth.
     “This place is just amazing to me,” she said. “It is just so beautiful and to know that people just built it for me is surreal.”
     Mom feels the same way.
     “I just look around and want to cry,” exclaimed Bonnie. “It seems like such a long time ago when this all started, but at the same time it seems like yesterday. It is just so beautiful. Everything was either bought with money raised or donated. The hours that all those guys put in to build this house for Beth…it just blows me away!”
     The 28 x 50 home, which is on Porter Road in West Paris is stick built with features specifically with Beth in mind.
     “The wood stove is connected to the gas/hot air furnace in such a way that the hot air from the wood stove goes through the furnace’s HEPA filter and travels through the duct work without the furnace in operation,” explained Gary. “The house is also equipped with central air for Beth’s breathing and the water comes from an artesian well and is heated by a separate gas unit.”
     The outside is vinyl siding with large windows that overlook the western mountains and the front and side of the house have an extremely wide brick walkway with three separate entrances. Inside, wood laminate floors were installed to prevent allergens and the kitchen and living room area is wide open for Beth to “zoom” around in.
     “It’s pretty neat,” said Beth. “On one side they built a bar area and it has a section on it that folds down and I can drive right up to it. When I’m done eating, it folds back up giving me more room.”
     The hallway going to the bedrooms is extra wide and Beth has a light in her room that is voice activated.
     The bathroom has two doors, one from the hallway and one from Beth’s bedroom, which has an elevated bathtub, a spray hose and large dressing area.
     Beth’s bedroom is brightly-painted in tangerine and includes a built-in day bed and plenty of space to get around. Her room also has a drive-up computer area with plenty of lighting and a flat screen TV that is voice activated.
     The bedroom also has a doorway to the master bedroom, so that Bonnie can get to her at night to move or message her.
     “It works really well,” said mom. “We are separated by the wall and the door, but our heads are only about five feet away. I can get to her in seconds.”
     Sometime in September a Thank You Picnic will be held at the home.
     “It’s the least we can do,”smiled Beth. “I just can’t get over the support this community has given us by building this house. There are just too many to thank and I will forever be grateful for a home, a new home that I can breathe in and zoom around. I was always so sick in the other house and it was so confining. I just love it here!”
     According to Bumbaca, the committee will soon resolve and fund raisers will stop.
     “We have two raffles still going on but that’s it,” he said. “There are still tickets left to the Red Sox and Yankees game with an overnight stay in Boston and another for a trip to Mexico donated by Dick Manson at the Lake Store.”
     The baseball tickets are $10 and the Mexico tickets are $50; either can be purchased by mailing a check to Paul Thornfeldt, PO Box 108, Paris, 04271. Drawing for the Sox tickets will be held at noon on September 1 at the Chamber of Commerce and the Mexico drawing will take place at noon on September 15 at the Lake Store in Norway.