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A celebration earlier this month marked completion of a small yet significant project in Southwest Portland. Nine-year-old Sofia Urbina cut a large pink ribbon on a 499-square-foot home addition that will serve as an ADA accessible bedroom for her and her twin brother, Max.

R&H Construction volunteered to build the addition after Sofia’s mother, Marlo, approached the contractor seeking advice on finding a residential remodeler to take on the project. R&H previously connected with the Urbina family via the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and built a yurt as an art space for Sofia in the family’s backyard in 2016. When Marlo reached out to R&H, project manager Jake Sly knew that the firm would volunteer its services again.

鈥淭here was never a doubt that we were going to take this on,鈥� he said earlier this year.

Sofia has Batten disease, a degenerative genetic condition that causes blindness, dementia and loss of motor skills. As her disease progressed, the family found it needed a bedroom with space for a hospital bed, wheelchair access and an ADA-accessible restroom. The addition was designed by students at Portland Community College‘s Sylvania campus, which is blocks away from the home and where both of Sofia’s parents work. The expansion has allowed the Urbinas to stay in an area where they have made strong connections with neighbors.