Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 4:56 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION December 13 - 14, 2003
D.A.R.E. Inc. of Southern Nevada and the Metro Police D.A.R.E. Detail gave one local family the holiday gift of a lifetime: the restoration of their northwest Las Vegas home.
But this was not TLC's "Trading Spaces." The officers took on the rehabilitation of the Gadberry family's home as a community project for the holiday season.
The Gadberry family includes Brian, his wife Kris, and their two sons, 7-year-old Keith and 4-year-old Ryan.
Two years ago Ryan was diagnosed with leukemia. Since then his parents have spent their days caring for him because he has been in and out of Sunrise Hospital a number of times.
Ryan has multiple shunts in his brain, feeding tubes, and the left side of his body is paralyzed due to a stroke.
The young boy's condition has also left the Gadberry family mentally, physically and financially drained, Metro Officer Steve Riback said. Because the family has been so severely affected by Ryan's illness, their home had become neglected throughout the years.
When the couple purchased their two bedroom, one-story house in a neighborhood at Smoke Ranch and Torrey Pines almost five years ago, they knew it was a fixer-upper, said Realtor Gayle Brandt of Realty Executives and a friend to the Gadberrys.
"They knew the house would need some restoration," Brandt said. "They were young though, and willing to take on the job."
When their youngest son's disease was diagnosed, however, all the Gadberrys' home improvement plans and home maintenance fell by the wayside.
Brandt decided she needed to try to help them.
"This family has gone through so much," she said. "When people come home from a bad day, they can relax in the comfort of their home. (The Gadberrys) did not have this. I just wanted them to have a warm place to come back to for the holidays."
Brandt contacted Riback enlist him in the effort.
"I had also sold a home to Steve (Riback) and he was a friend of mine," Brandt said. "I wanted to do something for the Gadberrys, so I called him and asked him if (D.A.R.E.) ever did anything like this for a community project."
Riback said he went to the house and saw that the Gadberrys "were living with cement floors. Their appliances were in terrible condition, one of their bathrooms was not functional at all, they had mismatched cabinets and leaky faucets."
"I started making calls and sending out letters to local businesses, explaining what we were doing," he said. "Every person we talked to wanted to donate."
The effort wound up bringing in more than $30,000 in donated materials for the project.
The D.A.R.E. Detail officers were also eager to get involved. The officers were joined by spouses, friends and family members to make a volunteer force 68-people strong. The volunteers worked on the house from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. for three days, he said.
So, where was the Gadberry family through all of this?
"I called the Santa Fe Station and they agreed to donate three nights to the family," Riback said. "Memphis Barbecue donated lunch for the family, they were given dinner show tickets to see Lance Burton, four free buffets from The Mirage and a $100 gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse."
The Mirage also gave the family passes to see the Dolphin Habitat to keep them busy.
Meanwhile, the officers were painting the house and installing new cabinets, appliances, carpet and tile. They also had the plumbing lines redone, the electricity rewired, new lighting and ceiling fans installed, and redid the entire landscape in front of the house.
Furniture was also donated to the family.
"Before, they didn't have a kitchen table," Riback said. "We had a kitchen table with chairs donated, an entertainment center and end tables. Ashley Furniture donated a three-piece sectional for their living room."
Bunkbeds and mattresses were donated for the boys by Walker Furniture, which had also donated the kitchen table and living room accessories.
Glen Russo of Turnberry Place donated a bathtub, and Mark Vernon of Alliance Mechanical donated two toilets. About $5,000 in granite was donated for the kitchen counter and bathroom sinks.
In addition to getting the project started, Brandt "donated food and drinks, three meals a day for three days for all of the workers," Riback said.
Brandt also gave the Gadberrys spending money for the weekend, so they could enjoy themselves to the fullest.
Brandt said Kris Gadberry sounded very excited when she spoke to her Sunday afternoon, while the officers were hard at work.
"She said the kids were having a ball," Brandt said. "They went and saw Lance Burton and Keith was pulled up on stage during the show. Kris bought Keith a magic kit after the show with some of the spending money."
Brandt said the best surprise was waiting at the house. The Gadberrys thought they were "just getting paint and maybe some flooring. They didn't know anything about the appliances or the furniture."
The Gadberrys saw their new house for the first time on Monday.
The transformation of the home was so dramatic, Ryan didn't recognize his own house, Riback said.
"He was sitting on the new couch in his house and said he wanted ravioli when he gets home," he said. "He didn't understand that this was his home. It looked that different."
Riback said the project was by far one of the best things he has ever been a part of.
"It was so amazing to see their faces and just what a good job everyone did," he said. "It was just such an amazing thing, and we all felt very good about it."
Thursday evening, Kris Gadberry said she had thought she could make it into the house without crying, but she was wrong.
"I got in the front yard and started crying. I didn't get very far."
"It is so much better than it was before. All of the kitchen appliances are brand new. Everything is great, just the fact that it is clean and it's livable is the best part," she said.
When 7-year-old Keith walked into the house "he dropped to his knees and his mouth dropped wide open," she said.
"Both of the boys love it," she said. "I think Ryan thought we were just in another hotel room. He didn't realize it was our house but once he did, he said it was very pretty."
The fact that Brandt was behind the transformation did not surprise Gadberry.
"She has tried to tell me for years how much people care and I think this proves it," Gadberry said.
"It's hard to take in that especially in Las Vegas that that many people really do care," she said. "There were at least 20 to 30 people in our yard when we got home."
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