Team Noah Foundation is dedicated to making a difference to children and families with special needs and medical conditions. By equipping them with changes to their environments, we aim to improve their quality of life.
Victor Fernandes, founder of Team Noah, approached Joe Pereira, a member of the board of directors, to discuss a grandmother, that lived with a child with special needs, that needed a washer and dryer.
Victor and Joe drove to Wareham to look at the house and speak with the grandmother. It was a simple solution. All we had to do was buy a new washer and dryer. But there was no place for the washer and dryer. Also, the home was not accessible for a child with special needs.
So on the way home, they discussed where to put the washer and dryer, with a potential solution of a 6’x8′ addition to the home for the washer and dryer.
Victor Fernandes calls Joe a few days later and suggest a whole house makeover. Let’s re-do the house, put on a big addition. And do the whole project in a week.
Although a great idea, it was an idea beyond their experience. “Victor, you’re crazy!” says Joe. “That’s the kind of stuff that we see on TV, but it takes a lot of people, a lot of resources and coordination. We don’t have any experience.”
A meeting with Team Noah foundation’s Board ensued, and Victor convinced everyone to take on the makeover, and finish it in a week. So a plan was put together and the wheels were set in motion. They were going to do an extreme makeover, TV style. This was unlike any project they had been involved with. There were a lot of dominoes to line-up, place in the right order, and knock down in the right sequence.
Now for the deception. They put in a cement foundation for the addition, but told the family that it was for a garage. On a Friday, the family was moved to a hotel on the Cape (all expenses paid by Team Noah), while work had started on the house.
The workers finished the addition. Vinyl siding. Bathrooms (one for special needs.) Kitchen. Furniture. Doors. Windows. Roof. Landscaping. And a washer and dryer. 100% brand new house. All donated by friends of Team Noah.
It was a delicate dance. Over a hundred volunteers. Members of the New Bedford Fire Department lent a hand. The rest, just too many to mention as we’re sure someone’s name will be left off. Hardwood floors. Finish Carpentry. Electrical. Plumbing. Sheet rock. Painting. Kitchen cabinets and counters installation. Interior decorating. It’s so hard to keep track of it all.
The volunteers worked at crazy pace. Non-stop. Local restaurants showed up with food. And the volunteers kept working. Finally when it was all done, cleaners came in and by the time it was done, the house was spotless. All in a week.
When the family returned on Saturday, all the volunteers were there waiting, with a bus in the street covering the front of the house (just like they do it on TV.) The limo arrived, and the family got out. Everyone asked the bus driver to “MOVE THE BUS,” and the grandmothers reaction was priceless. When she walked inside she was overwhelmed, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“It was the best project that I ever was involved in,” says Joe Pereira.