A weekend home makeover on the rez

GALLUP -- On Saturday, July 23, one of Regina Benally's clients was getting a home makeover, but probably not as extreme as the ABC television show Extreme Home Makeover.

A family living in a weatherworn hogan northwest of Gallup, N.M. on the Navajo reservation was picked for the renovation by Quality Home Care, Inc., a home care provider, along with two Albuquerque church groups.

"Our company provides personal care services to eligible clients," said Benally, a field supervisor. "But we do more than that. We network with many other organizations, such as the Navajo Nation, church groups, state agencies, and private organizations, to see that the people we serve get other assistance."

"In this case, the client needed her home renovated," she said. "Peggy Martinez, the nurse who did a medical assessment of our client for Medicaid assistance, arranged to have some carpenters who could renovate the client's home."

At about 8:40 a.m. Peggy Martinez, a registered nurse contracted with Presbyterian Health Care, arrived with her volunteers from Albuquerque.

"I did the assessment on the client and I wanted to make her conditions better," she said. "God tells us to make life better for people those less fortunate than others, and gave me the means to do it." Martinez is a member of the Valley Christian and Light House Mission fund.

Upon arriving, Martinez started assessing the renovation needs inside and outside the hogan. "I think we need to repair this roof, then patch up the insides," she told the volunteers. Then she looked at the exterior of the hogan and decided to replace the mud between the wooden logs with solid concrete. That done, she headed into Gallup with a list of additional supplies needed.

One of the volunteers, Keith Peacy, offered his own money.

"I have some cash to pay for some of this," he said. Martinez looked at him and said, "Thanks, but we'll use the church credit card for the supplies."

Sandra Bohling, a Navajo Pastor with the Rio Vista Church of the Nazarene, who came along with her own group said, "This is the first time, we're way, way out here.

"Usually we just go to the Pueblos (near Albuquerque)," she said. "But there, we have to go through the Governors. It is very hard," she said about getting consent.

"It is easier," she said. "To help Christian groups going onto Navajo land than Pueblos. There, you have to get permission to do community service.

"We don't bring a Bible and tell people this is what God says," Bohling said about their outreach. "The main thing is to get to know them and treat them with respect."

Unlike the Piestewa family who received a brand new home in the Extreme Home Makeover show in May, the clients got the bare renovation. But they also received clothes and other supplies, collected by the groups.

"Regina is the one who then distributes the items that we get," said Quality Home Care Agency Director Elvira M. Emerson, as they unloaded seven bags of items delivered.

"About 5 to 10 percent of our clients are disabled, but the majority are elderly," she said. Across the Navajo Nation, there's over 23,000 elderly. In September 1999, a new law was passed that allowed eligible Medicaid recipients to receive home care services, such as household services, meal preparation, skin care, support services, and other needs that are determined by a state agency.

"The goal of the Medicaid Personal Care program is to improve the quality of life for consumers who are disabled or elderly," Emerson said. "It allows consumers to live in their homes and achieve the highest level of independence that they can.

"The client getting the renovation is eligible for these services, but because they are our client, we go above and beyond what we are required," said Emerson, who worked for the Navajo Nation Aging office for eight years. "We don't get paid for what we are doing here today."

Matt Spader, a carpenter who came with Rio Vista Church said he didn't think they'd get everything done in one day. But they managed to put concrete on the dirt floor of the Hogan and put on new roof tiles by day's end. "They also got part of the outside done and will return later this month to complete the job," said Emerson. "We're very happy with these thoughtful volunteers. The client is definitely very pleased."