“I have not seen the inside of a pot when cooking in 11 years,” Laurie Wood said.
Paralyzed from the waist down, she measures about 4-foot-2 sitting in her wheelchair. Wood’s two-story Virginia Beach home is in the final stages of a renovation that will make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act standard of design. She put off the renovation for more than a decade.
“I am most excited about having a stove that will raise and lower for me,” Wood said, adding with a laugh, “That and having a front door that’s going to automatically open and close for me so I don’t have to pull a string behind me.”
For the past eight weeks, Wood’s home has been a flurry of construction, plastic wrap and sawdust as crews ripped out walls, gutted the kitchen and rewired the entire home for smart technology.
Countertops in the now galley-style kitchen and ADA-compliant bathrooms have been lowered and allow space for Wood to wheel up to the counter without her knees bumping a cabinet. Many of the traditional doors have been swapped for pocket doors while exterior doors will be replaced with automated smart doors in the coming weeks.
“It was down to the studs in here,” Wood said looking around at her nearly complete home.
Outside, Wood’s SUV with a “ROLLN” license plate was parked next to a freshly paved concrete ramp that removed a step.
Tidewater Pro Build, a Suffolk-based home renovation company, was contracted to renovate Wood’s home as part of a project for Tunnels to Towers — a nonprofit that covers the cost of custom-designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. A friend of Wood’s recommended her for the program. The foundation is covering the $230,000 renovation and helping her to pay $13,000 in personal attorney fees associated with reviewing the program contract. Per the contract, Wood must live in the home for at least 10 years after the renovations are completed.
Wood, 47, enlisted in the Navy in 1995. She served as a mass communication specialist for roughly six years before she switched to the Reserve. Wood then joined the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office and was working as an academy instructor in 2012 when she fell about 20 feet during training.
She has used a wheelchair ever since.
Wood has owned the two-story home in the Salem area for about 20 years. After her workplace injury, she made changes to the home as money allowed, but never fully committed to making it ADA-compliant.
“Carrying laundry up and down the stairs and medical supplies and stuff like that was a royal pain in the booty,” Wood said with a laugh.
She invested in a stairlift chair but it difficult for her to climb in and out of and unreliable. Half the time, it would stop halfway down and she said she would have to try and crawl down the stairs but would kind of tumble.
Wood resigned herself to simply not accessing parts of her home, including the entire second floor. A primary bedroom and bathroom were added to the lower level in 2020.
Now, other enhancements include removing a kitchen wall that prevented Wood’s wheelchair from navigating the space, and the paving of a sidewalk around the exterior of the house.
“I was able to get out and see my backyard for the first time in more than a decade!” Wood exclaimed.
Tidewater Pro Build is in the final stages of the project, which includes placing a generator n the backyard to ensure the home is automated even during a power outage.
“Our stuff under contract for Tidewater Pro Build is pretty much complete,” spokesman Tom Jennings told Wood on Tuesday. “But we will come back and make that literally every crack and crevice is polished and taken care of. This is your home, so it should be perfect.” Wood on Tuesday.”]
Wood said she is eager for the work to finish and to begin putting things away in her cabinets. Her stove was installed and turned on Monday night.
“I couldn’t even open the fridge all the way before, and when I would cook, I had to stir and like lift myself up to try to see,” Wood said. “I am so excited.”
Aside from the cost being covered, a large part of what encouraged Wood to finally go through with the renovations was her son. He was 8 when she was paralyzed. She came to rely on him for simple tasks.
“He transitioned very well once I accepted it and got my positive attitude then he did as well,” Wood said. “It was difficult for us in the beginning but he’s a great human and I am very proud of him.”
Wood’s son is now 19; he recently enlisted in the Navy.
“He is going off into the world and I wanted to be able to live independently,” Wood said. “Independence is very important to me.”
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
