Built Right

Make-A-Wish® Connecticut granted eight-year-old Adelia Benitez’s wish to have a handicap-accessible shower.

Like most girls her age, eight-year-old Adelia has an infectious smile and faces life with a can-do attitude. Unlike most of her peers though, Adelia is dealing with a nervous system disorder that has left her non-verbal and wheelchair dependent.

Because Adelia has such limited mobility, her favorite part of the day is relaxing in a warm shower. Unfortunately, the family’s existing bathroom and shower was not handicap-accessible. The luxury of a warm shower (something many of us take for granted) was a daily challenge. Adelia’s family members had to maneuver her out of the wheelchair through the narrow space into the shower each day, a difficult process for both, and often anything but relaxing. With all of this in mind, the perfect wish for Adelia was to have a a handicap-accessible shower and bathroom.

Once the design was finalized, Make-A-Wish Connecticut got to work, and the project proceeded briskly. Adelia’s new bathroom features a fresh coat of purple paint, new tile throughout the space, and the lip on the shower was removed providing a zero-entry design to make showering for Adelia and her family as pain-free as possible.

Adelia’s mom shares that the Bluetooth speaker that provides in the shower is Adelia’s favorite part of her wish.

The new design is practical and artistically tranquil. It surrounds Adelia with beauty and style and provides her with a peaceful setting to wind down at the end of each day. But most importantly, the bathroom renovation makes it easier and more comfortable for Adelia and her family to give her a shower. She can move around easier and now expresses her happiness in the shower. Now Adelia and her family can live more comfortably in their home from this point on moving forward.

Adelia’s mom could not be happier with the transformation, “thank you to Make-A-Wish Connecticut and to everyone who participated for making Adelia’s shower accessible to her.”

A special thank you to B-Z Designs, CT Lighting Centers, CWPM LLC, John Boyle Design Centers, Mike’s Woodshop, Brian Murtari, Ralph Riccio, Stone Valley Granite & Marble, LLC, Youman Electrical Services, Inc. and Tile America. Their kind donations of labor and materials helped make Adelia’s wish possible.

Make-A-Wish is in the business of delivering hope, and hope has never been more important than now for our wish kids. It can be difficult to continue to hope when we have had so many dreams deferred due circumstances beyond our control, but the moment we have something to look forward to, everything begins to change. Hope is a superpower that kids living with critical illness, like Adelia, have been tapping into long before many of us heard the word, “lockdown.” Helping more kids find hope is something we all have the power to do, because for these children—as for all of us—the promise of a wish is so much more than a temporary escape. It’s a wellspring of strength to keep fighting for better days. Hope is essential for children living with critical illnesses and you can unlock its transformative power today. Don’t wait for hope; create it! Donate now at ct.wish.org.