Courtyard gesture

Residents of the Good Samaritan Society in Spokane Valley, 17121 E. Eighth Ave., have been listening to the sounds of hammering and sawing, watching workers cut down a tree, build an arbor and do so much more to their courtyard this week.

Clyde Haase of Haase Landscape has brought his House to Home project to the facility to build a usable courtyard for its residents. The project includes cutting down some trees, installing pavers where there used to be grass so the residents can use their wheelchairs in the area, installing an arbor and so much more.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Jacki Schmick, the housing and marketing director of nonprofit retirement community. “I haven’t stopped smiling since Monday morning.”

The smile started when workers arrived Monday and then worked around the clock to complete the project Friday. Residents have pulled up their chairs in front of the windows around the courtyard to watch the transformation of – basically an unusable space – into a spot where residents can bring their family members and visitors and spend time outside.

Haase said some of the residents were a little worried about an old tree where a local squirrel had taken up residence.

Cutting down the tree, which was in failing health, let more light into one of the common areas. Instead of taking it out completely, Don Nelson of Tree Artistry carved a sculpture of an eagle into the base of the tree which now includes a house for the squirrel.

Tree Artistry wasn’t the only local company to pitch in on the project. Haase recruited more than 60 local businesses to donate work and materials, including BargainHunt Cabinets, Mid-Mountain Machinery, Fred’s Appliance and more.

“This whole thing is just snowballing,” Haase said.

The results of the project will be part of Haase’s “House to Home” show on KAYU FOX 28. He estimates he has done about seven or eight of these kinds of projects – some of them airing on another local network, and is in the planning stages of doing more.

Not only are residents getting their courtyard remodeled, but Kelley Moore, a Seattle-based lifestyle expert, is busy remodeling the dining room of the Good Samaritan.

Moore has worked on the “Ellen Show,” the “Today Show” and has her own lifestyle show in Seattle. She said working for the big names is fun, but projects like the Good Samaritan are more of her passion.

She is putting a replica of a large tree on one of the walls and attaching pictures of the residents from when they were young on its branches. She said one woman’s face lit up when she found out about the project.

“To watch their reaction and feel cared for is the biggest gift I could get,” Moore said.

A ribbon cutting ceremony and a barbecue were held to dedicate the courtyard. Schmick said there have been two managers of the facility who died unexpectedly in the last few years, so the courtyard will be named after them – the Maidoff-Mallert Memorial Garden.