Terry’s House is starting to look like a home. Dave Meyers Construction put up the first wood-framed wall on Terry’s House on May 27. The 12-foot high by 20-foot long wall is just the beginning of more than 35 walls going up in the coming days on the two-story home within walking distance of the main entrance to Community Regional Medical Center. Terry’s House will accommodate patients’ families who have nowhere to stay or cannot afford hotels.

The Michael R. Tolladay Corporation is the general contracting company donating and overseeing construction of Terry’s House and project manager Rick Paden relates to how important this home is for families with loved ones in the hospital.

“I had a similar experience with my mother who had heart surgery out of town and they had a home that we were able to stay in,” Paden said. “It was not anywhere near the size of this, but it was nice to have someplace to go.”

Much of the construction materials and labor to build Terry’s House have been donated by various folks in the community. Building and maintaining the project is entirely dependent on private gifts and contributions.

The walls came up just after Jeff Ogle Masonry built the foundation walls and G & G Construction Co. built the rest of the foundation and laid the slab of the building. On May 21, the Michael R. Tolladay Corporation and nine Vulcan cement trucks poured 80 yards of concrete. Next steps are plumbing, electrical, heating, ventilating and air conditioning donated by Fresno Plumbing & Heating, Inc., Howe Electric, Inc. and B & L Mechanical, Inc.

 “In a month or two it will really start to take shape,” said Paul Scott, superintendent for the Tolladay Corporation. “As it starts going up more people want to get involved and it will certainly be a beautiful two-story home when it’s finished.”

And more people are planning to get involved. Local area carpenters have been on call to assist in areas needed from pouring concrete, framing walls, constructing the roof, encapsulating the building and finalizing the interior finish. The carpenters will be volunteering at the site on the weekends or in their free time during the week if they are not scheduled to work.

Terry’s House will be a 17,000-square-foot home with 20 guest rooms with private baths and refrigerators to accommodate the families of trauma patients during their recovery. It will also have a guest kitchen, guest dining room, laundry room, healing garden, family resource center, children’s activity room and reflection room. The facility is scheduled for completion in November.

Community Medical Foundation is reaching out to the community to help build Terry's House. To help by giving a monetary contribution or for more information on Terry's House, contact Community Medical Foundation at (559) 459-2670 or log on to TerrysHouseFresno.com.
 

This story was reported by Rebecca Wass. She can be reached at rwass@communitymedical.org.