Each of our group homes are licensed to house children from 0-17. When they turn 18, a few things can happen, and it all depends on their judge. For our kids, we wanted a space where they could continue to live as a family, and receive loving care-- not get lost in a system.
During COVID, many judges made some exceptions for a time, so by the time we needed to move, 5 of our Fulp family adult/kids were ready to move at once, with a 6th from the Chapin family to join shortly.
It took a lot of hands and was a lot of fun-- while being bittersweet at the same time. suddenly the olders were a full 8 minute walk away!
This year, in mid August, we were informed by the landlord of the adult home that they needed the property by October! Now, we have the purchased property for the homes to be built on so we will no longer have to rent, but for now, this property only houses temporary teams until funding is sufficient-- construction will have to wait.
It is very hard to find a handicap-accessible house to rent in Guatemala.
There are now 6 soon to be 7 of our olders, and adapting spaces is pretty tough. In that timeframe however, there were not a lot of options. The final choice still needs some work, and is less than ideal; but it is very close to the schoolhouse, the Fulp home, and the Chapin home, which helps some of the young adults socialize-- especially during rainy season when a longer walk can be harder to time.
I want to point out all the crazy planning that went into this move, and I am grateful for those who put in the hours to make this happen- I was not one of these! For myself, I got to help with the fun part- the actual move.
We early few started with a smaller load just to get things rolling while the rest of the volunteers arrived.
Some of the big items needed a full team of guys to maneuver as some of us hadn't had our wheaties for breakfast!
Once enough of the more sturdy help had arrived, top focus was placed on moving the medical bed. This is a hospital style mechanical bed that weighs a few hundred pounds.
They may be fully portable in a handicap-accessible hospital but in mobile settings, these do not move easily!
Unique dynamics of the old house to street height aided this process and traffic was only blocked for a few minutes while the tailgate was backed closer to the door.
No fingers lost on the way out!
At the new house, it took a solid plan, and a lot of muscle to get the bed in through the narrow doorframe, (ahem, at the new property, homes will have wide doorframes!) but everyone survived with all digits still attached, and no reported slipped disks.
Next came the excitement of getting the big stuff from upstairs.
Now, in Guatemala there are... unique housing styles! One popular design uses spiral stair cases. Beautiful, but not functional on moving day!
The only way to get things from the upstairs is by lowering them over the balcony!
Aaaand there might have been a tree in the way.
The trucked backed into place providing elevated footing below.
Down the spiral stairs went dozens of smaller boxes.
Over the railing went 2 wardrobes.
Over went 2 queen sized beds.
Don't worry, Daryl and Jay took care of the tree by hitting it with their faces.
The tree lost a few branches, but you should see the other guys!
The large bags of adult diapers in storage had taken the trip earlier and were simply tosed with abandon onto innocent bystanders below! It was quite a bit faster than lowering with the care that was taken with everything else.
No children/adults were harmed in the tossing of the diapers.
Keep your eye on that top mattress!
With 4 trucks, and lots of help, the little items just sifted into holes around the bigger items and things were loaded in no time.
On the way, we were flagged down by some neighbors.
One of the mattresses tried to escape and leaped off the bed of the truck!
It had to be the heavy one!
We played a little musical chairs so some of the guys could carry it the rest of the distance.
Nearly done- what are we missing?
Oh, right-- our kids! For this part, we loaded up kids in their wheelchairs and used ratchet straps to secure them to the luggage rack. Nice and tight to prevent bouncing. Ok--maybe we walked them down the road in their chairs and the trucks finished up and followed. But the other way would have been pretty cool.
The rest is fairly boring, and I can't find a way to write it more entertaining.
-- Well, maybe boring is the wrong word.
Yenni kind of had a seizure right when it was discovered that Walter's g-tube had become dislodged.
Yenni was ok though and mostly just wanted the food arriving shortly.
And I'm pretty sure Walter was just faking his tube coming out because he was bored.
One fortunate aspect of this move is that Walter is now so close to the Fulp home that supplies were fast to collect! His tube was replaced with a new one in no time!
There is still so much to do to make the house a home, but the ladies are pretty incredible and shared that they are prepared for a flexible weekend and a Monday to organize with more of their team.
We didn't lose any kids, fingers, or furniture, so this one is a win.
That was a beautiful little space for the adults, but I’m sure the new house will be a new adventure until the new homes are built! I am still hopeful that I can bring a team of tradesman to help with that. Just need to figure out funding for materials! God bless you all and may the transition be a smooth one!!