The man in charge of a huge renovation going on at the home of the Straschnitzki family of Airdrie hopes the family is less than two months away from getting back their keys and moving back into their home.  

T.J. Stewart is a good friend of the Straschnitzkis and is spearheading the renovation.  He's getting lots of help from his family, neighbours of the Straschnitzkis, contractors, building supply companies and many others.

The home is being renovated to accommodate Ryan's new mobility needs after being paralyzed from the chest down in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in April 2018.  

Stewart says initially, everyone involved didn't expect the project to take as long as it has.  But he explains that this way.

"When you're taking stuff apart to get it done, we're finding a lot of hidden stuff that needs to be fixed.  We want to make sure it's all fixed up perfect for them, so it's taken a little bit longer.   Some people have dropped out, they've offered materials and that kind of thing but based on the economy some people have had to drop out, which is understandable.  So that's put us a little bit behind as well."

Stewart says they insulated the basement at the end of last week and drywall should be going in sometime this week which will be followed by finishing the project.  They're looking for some flooring and furniture to finish the job.  Stewart predicts the project will be complete and the family will move back in by the middle of April.

The project has had most of the material and labour donated or provided at a very reduced rate.  Stewart says they want to make sure that it doesn't cost Ryan a single penny.

"We don't want to touch anything Ryan has going for him right now.  He's 19 years old, he's got his whole life to live so any money that he does have he's going to need for medical expenses and that type of thing.  The thing that people don't realize is, we all have jobs with benefits and Ryan is going to have a job one day but he won't qualify for benefits so whatever money he did get from Humboldt, he's going to need to cover his own medical stuff."

The project started in June last year with the gutting of the basement which Stewart says was done in a day by neighbours of the Straschnitzkis,  He says that group has been remarkable in their support for the project.  After that, he says they were expecting things to take off.  Not being a contractor, he didn't realize how long the process of getting permits and other things needed would take so the house sat empty for some time.  

If Stewart had to guess at how much the renovation would cost if everything involved had to be paid out of pocket, he'd put the figure at around $300,000.

Anyone wanting to help get the renovation finished, either by donating cash, products, or labour can email strazhouse616@gmail.com.

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