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Kaluza living a better life
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
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It's been a year and a half since Joe Kaluza and his family - wife Lisa and daughter Tiffany - moved into the Ivanhoe Avenue home custom-built for them by local contractors and volunteers. The home is equipped to help Joe move freely and to interact with his family. Kaluza, former manager of the former KFC on Youngstown's South Side, was shot by a robber March 24, 2008, as he left the restaurant.
By Elise Franco
Youngstown
Joe Kaluza is finally living a better life.
Kaluza, the former manager of KFC on the city’s South Side, was shot by a robber March 24, 2008, as he left the restaurant to make a bank deposit. The injury left him a quadriplegic and unable to live freely or comfortably in his home.
The Kaluza Project, a fund-raising drive to build the family a new home designed to meet the needs of someone who must use a wheelchair, was started by Anna Fitzgerald, Kaluza’s sister, and Jim Phillips, a family friend.
The $300,000 home on Ivanhoe Avenue in Youngstown was constructed in just 70 days by more than 400 volunteers and the Core Six Plus One, a group of area businessmen who spearheaded the project. The family moved in at the end of 2009.
“For 400 people to build a house then just give it to you, saying thank you just isn’t enough,” Kaluza said. “Those people have made my family’s life very happy.”
It was upon moving in that Kaluza said he, along with his wife, Lisa, and 15-year-old daughter, Tiffany, could get back to their lives. The couple, who will celebrate 27 years of marriage in April, also have a 24-year-old son who doesn’t live with them.
Kaluza said the old home, which also is on Ivanhoe, was small and cramped with little space for his motorized chair to maneuver.
“Before this house, I was stuck in the kitchen and living room,” he said. “I slept out in the living room, too, so I had no privacy.”
Kaluza said after the shooting, he felt most depressed about not being able to tuck his daughter in at night, something that was heartbreaking to the entire family.
“I can put her to bed now,” he said. “It’s a lot more fulfilling. ... Now, when my daughter asks me to come to her, I can.”
Lisa Kaluza said the new home enables them to have their own spaces but come together and spend time as a family.
“We spend so much more time together now,” she said. “We’re spoiled with all the space. It’s wonderful.”
Lisa said the best part for her is the opportunity for private time with her husband.
“He can come into my room now, and we can talk by ourselves,” she said. “That’s what’s so wonderful, because we didn’t get to do that before.”
Though the family experienced hard times over the past several years, Kaluza said he’s thankful for those who made his new life possible and for those who continue to show support for his family.
“Every time I go out, I talk to someone who says I’m an inspiration,” he said. “If I really am, that’s great, but I’m just being me.”
Kaluza said he also runs into volunteers from time to time who stop and chat with him.