Community rallies to help construct home addition for Pablo boy
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The past month has shown Pablo resident Nicole Miller the beauty of living in a tight-knit community. On Oct. 31, Woody’s Western Building Center dropped off their first load of building supplies to begin working on an addition for her 7-year-old son Stacey Stalheim, who was born with an unknown disease.
Although doctors still don’t know everything that’s wrong, they’ve identified several medical conditions Stacey has. Among those is CBI disease, which is where the cord that connects his brain to his eyes is not fully connected, meaning he is semi-blind and can only see at certain times. He also has paralyzed vocal chords, preventing him from speaking, and struggles with hearing loss in both ears. Tubes have been put in his ears for drainage control, and he has separate tubes for eating.
Stacey has infantile scoliosis and his hips have been pulled out of their sockets, making it hard for the boy to get comfortable.
He also requires around-the-clock attention from nursing staff, which makes for cramped living quarters for a family of six.
As Stacey continued to defy the odds and continue growing, the need to expand onto his room became reality as local businesses and private donations contributed to the project. Since construction began, Miller has also reached out to the community by placing donation canisters throughout the Mission Valley at local businesses, which she says have been helpful bringing in extra donations.
The family was dealt a low blow when two of the collection canisters came up missing, one in St. Ignatius, the other in Missoula.
“I stopped by to pick it up and the woman said someone had already picked it up,” Miller explained. “(At the other location), someone ran in and grabbed it.”
Despite the loss, the mother says she has raised approximately $1,100 in the past four weeks, which helped purchase glue, screws and two tools.
“Thankfully I had the donation money, so I could go get things I needed,” Miller said. “I don’t have that kind of money, so I’m thankful to have the donation money.”
She added that Ace Hardware donated a toilet and outlets, which were a welcome surprise.
“Everything’s running smoothly,” she said. “(The donations) have been really awesome; I just cried when I had a family give a large donation, which is the majority of the money I’ve received.”
“I’m just very thankful for living in a small town,” she added. “I do believe this is a special place; this would never happen in a bigger city. You couldn’t get the love and affection you get in a small town.”
According to Miller, she also received a donation in the mail from a Charlo woman who said, "it didn’t matter if her contribution was used for lumber or Christmas presents she just wanted to help.”
“I’m just super thankful,” Miller added.
After four weeks of construction, the addition now has the base floor built, and workers are waiting on trusses so they can begin putting up the walls and roof. If supplies arrive on time, she expects the addition to be completed in a few weeks.
“Once we get the trusses, boom, we’ll get it done,” she said.
City Electric is also donating the wiring for the addition.
Additional outreach from the community includes a possible spaghetti feed from a long-time customer at Miller’s Super 1 Foods job, to a possible karaoke benefit at the Polson VFW.
She has also set up an account at First Interstate Bank under Stacey Stalheim’s benefit.
