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 EVENTS

Next Step Client and Oprah Winfrey's Favorite Guest of All Time Receives a New Home

Ayer woman rebuilt her life after a devastating disease. They built her a dreamBy Ed Hannan, ehannan@lowellsun.comUpdated: 08/08/2011 12:03:47 PM EDT

AYER -- Monica Jorge's story of hope, courage and determination has touched countless lives in the four years that have passed following the loss of her arms and legs to a flesh-eating bacteria after the birth of her daughter Sofia.

She has told her story in the pages of this newspaper and appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the spinoff Nate Berkus Show in the past year.

She uses prosthetics to get around, but must sometimes rely on a wheelchair. With a teenage daughter -- 13-year-old Maddie -- as well as her 4-year-old daughter Sofia and her husband Tony, Monica's life is anything but easy. Crammed into a first-floor apartment, which the family rented on Pleasant Street, she struggled to get around.

Those days are over.

Nate Berkus greets the crowd as he arrives on a moving truck. His crew worked for months to build the specially designed house. NASHOBA PUBLISHING / JOHN LOVE 

Yesterday afternoon, under a hot August sun, with a crowd of more than 700 people looking on, Monica and Tony stood next to Berkus as a 110-by-25-foot tarp dropped, revealing her spacious new home in the expansive Pingry Farm subdivision off Snake Hill Road.

"This is a game-changer for Monica and her family," Berkus said last night, hours after production had stopped on an episode of the show that will air Sept. 27 on Channel 5.

After the birth of Sofia in August 2007, Jorge contracted necrotizing fascitis, a flesh-eating bacteria that kills tissue and internal organs in mere minutes. After giving birth at Emerson Hospital in Concord, she was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she underwent dozens of surgeries. She was in the hospital and rehab combined through December 2007. She said last night she has one more surgery to go.

Berkus and his crew -- which included certified landscape technician Ahmed Hassan, host of DIY Network's Turf War and Yard Crashers, and Chris Grundy, host of DIY Network's Cool Tools -- worked for months building the three-bedroom, three-bath ranch-style house that has interior and exterior features specially designed to accommodate Monica, but in a way that does not detract from its aesthetic beauty.

"This is our home," she said last night. "I become tongue-tied. I can't describe it. It is overwhelming. I can't wait to sleep here tonight. They took things we liked and made it a home. The house is so beautiful and so incredibly decorated."

The interior of the house includes cabinets that can be lowered to the countertop, allowing Monica to retrieve their contents, showers level with the floor so they are wheelchair-accessible, as well as a dryer in the shower. "Any technology that exists to make her life easier is built into this house," Berkus said. "It's built into the walls. It's built into the wiring." Outside is a swimming pool with a hydraulic chairlift that will allowMonica to exit and enter the pool. The exterior also features a greenhouse, two detached gardens for planting and two raised flower beds to allow Monica to access them more easily. The backyard also includes a swingset with a tire swing and slide for the children to play on.

Hundreds cheer on the Jorge family and TV designer Nate Berkus as the Jorges discover their specially designed home in Ayer's Pingry Farm development yesterday. NASHOBA PUBLISHING / JOHN LOVE

"Monica and I had a lot of conversation, but I had to back up and realize I was talking to someone who never had the opportunity, never even had the dream, of decorating a house," Berkus said. "This was someone entirely focused on her health, entirely focused on her children, so she had never even thought of picking out a coffee table and what it would look like."

Berkus said the biggest challenge was finding the land."It was very important to me that Monica be able to stay in her community. This community has been amazing for her and for the kids and we didn't want this gift to force them to have to change schools and go through a whole process of adjustment," he said. "We wanted the gift to feel natural. Let's take them out of the cramped, dark, little house which they were renting and bring them into a spacious, light, brand-new house."

The Jorge family watch the unveiling of their new house, which will help Monica Jorge live independently. NASHOBA PUBLISHING / JOHN LOVE 

It's a house that would sell for $399,000, according to Rick Roper of Crabtree Development, the Ayer-based developer who is building the subdivision. Winfrey paid an undisclosed sum for the construction of the house, hiring Berkus and his crew to do the actual legwork, including landscaping and fully furnishing the interior.

Roper sat inside his air-conditioned SUV at the top of the cul-de-sac hours before taping started while a crowd of uninvited guests watched from across the street. Among those onlookers was Cynthia LeFave, who lives down the street for the Jorge family.

"I guess I'm just nosy," she said. "I'm not really a celebrity chaser, but if it's on my street, I figured I should come by and check it out."

Folks lined up six or seven deep in front of the tarp that blocked the view of the house, but that didn't stop 11 employees from Tiny's Restaurant in Ayer from getting prime real estate in the front row. Dawn Goodwin of Lowell said that the Jorge family are regular customers at the popular breakfast place, coming in once a week.

"We want to celebrate. She's finally getting some good fortune," Goodwin said. "They deserve it so much."

Berkus stood alongside the driver's-side door of an 18-wheel tractor-trailer that took him from the top of the cul-de-sac to the front of the tarp which covered the house. As he rode downhill, he passed Cheryl Storm, his former French teacher at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham.

"I am just really proud of him, his growth, his spirit of compassion, his humanity and his heart," she said. "He's just the best. I'll follow him until I can't follow him anymore."

A videotaped message from Winfrey will appear on the show, which featured the Queen of Daytime Talk saying, "Your strength and your courage and spirit are why you'll always be one of my favorite guests of all time. I'll never forget you in that hospital saying, 'Get on with it. I have to be with my babies.' "

After a long day that featured the necessary stops and starts of a television production, Berkus accompanied the family on a tour of the house. With TV cameras following their every move, eventually the magnitude of the gesture overwhelmed them.

"I told Maddie on the steps of the house, 'Close your eyes. I want you to envision what your new family home could be like,' " Berkus said. "She said, 'All I want is a backyard so my sister can play. I just want a space where I know my family can be together, not be gawked at, and have time outdoors.' They had no access to nature and look where we are now."

Amputee Surf Clinic Comes to New England

AmpSurf is holding several learn-to-surf clinics on the East Coast and will be bringing 10 certified adaptive surf instructors along with all the surfboards, wetsuits and other adaptive equipment needed for the week of August 15th-19th.   They are looking for participants and volunteers for the Maine Event on August 18th and 19th.  The Maine event is open to all disabilities. For more information, go to www.ampsurf.org/eastcoastweek/

9th Annual Justin Laverdiere
Memorial Golf Tournament

The 9th Annual Justin Laverdiere Memorial Golf Tournament will take place on September 24, 2011 at Chemawa Golf Course in North Attleboro, MA. All proceeds from the tournament will benefit The Tomorrow Fund in memory of Justin Laverdiere.

Justin was a client of Next Step who passed away in February 2003 after a two-year battle with Osteosarcoma. His short life was filled with challenges faced and overcome, such as the loss of his leg, and memorable moments that left anyone fortunate enough to know him that much richer
for the experience.

For a registration form or sponsorship opportunities, please click here.

For more information, please contact Katie Ralls.

Veterans Count Golf Tournament

Mark your calendar for the        5th Annual Veterans

Count Golf Tournament,

Tuesday, August 23, 2011.

For more information about Veterans Count, please visit www.eastersealsnh.org.

You may also contact Mike Cormier, Senior Director of Development & Corporate Relations, at 603.621.3457.

Next Step Holiday Hours

Next Step Newsroom: Media & Press Information

 "Each year Next Step holds a variety of special events designed to raise awareness of the work we do and educate our clients about the tools they need to lead the most fruitful, productive life possible."

Next Step
Vice President
Matt Albuquerque, CPO