Cal Poly’s Annual PolyHouse To Renovate Home
Of Disabled 16-Year Old in May

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

The PolyHouse students will work on the San Miguel home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 8, 9, and 10, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 15, 16, and 17.

According to Javadpour, the girl was born with a heart defect and is confined to a wheelchair. She became severely and permanently disabled after falling into a coma. Her primary caregivers are her grandparents, who have also parented more than 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,” said Javadpour.

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 project goals are to improve the accessibility, safety and comfort of the home, completing repairs that would otherwise go undone.

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 project opens students' eyes to social need and community service.”

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. Students come from a variety of backgrounds, including business, engineering management, and industrial and manufacturing engineering.

Central Coast businesses and construction companies give the PolyHouse project much needed support. For information on the project and a complete list of supporters go to www.polyhouse.org.

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Cal Poly’s Annual PolyHouse To Renovate Home Of Disabled 16-Year Old in May

Cal Poly’s Annual PolyHouse To Renovate Home
Of Disabled 16-Year Old in May