CM Cares, the Colorado State University construction management program’s community service learning initiative, helped two more families in need this spring by making accessibility improvements to their homes.

CM Cares has completed 18 projects throughout northern Colorado over the course of five years with the support of more than 100 donors. On May 12, student leaders working with two families in need this spring presented their projects and celebrated another successful semester of community work.

The Rincon family was present for the event with their son, Maximino, who is the beneficiary of a new bathroom space for his daily care. The 8-year-old boy has cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5, or CDKL5, disorder, a rare X-linked genetic disorder that has confined him to a wheelchair and causes daily seizures and neurodevelopment impairment. The wider bathroom with a wheel-in shower will make it easier for his mother to take care of his needs, and she thanked the project team for all they had done for her family.

Anthony Sodic was so grateful for the work done on an accessible bathroom for his own needs that he wrote a speech for the team members to thank them for their work. Sodic has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and also relies on his mother for help with his daily care, so the wheel-in shower and wider bathroom access are necessary improvements.

“I not only got a big walk-in bathroom, but I also feel like I made friends with college guys,” quipped the 15-year-old Sodic. “I am pretty lucky. I am telling everyone about my experience with CM Cares. That is a good name, too, because they do care.”

The CSU team made a video about the Sodic project.

“This allows you to be part of something bigger than yourself,” said Owen Thurston, one of the student leaders of the Sodic project.

“It is definitely a life-changing experience, and I appreciate it,” added Dan Proud, another student leader of the project.

“Faculty cannot do it alone; industry cannot do it alone,” Department of Construction Management Head Mostafa Khattab told the audience at the May 12 presentation. “Here you can see the students’ impact. At the end of the day, what matters is what impact you make. I want you families to know that you’ve changed the lives of our students.”