North Liberty mom receives free new flooring to help autistic son with severe allergies

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KCRG) - An autistic boy in North Liberty was getting just 90 minutes of sleep per night due to severe allergies. Gerivenea Green said she had tried everything to help her 9-year-old son Tajiri including sleep studies.

“It wasn’t until 2018 when we actually got the report of how severe they were, up to death. So we’ve been carrying around EpiPen’s,” Green explained.

She said Tajiri would be up sneezing and rubbing his nose throughout the night.

The culprit turned out to be old pet dander he was allergic to in the carpet, but Green said she couldn’t afford to replace it. That’s where Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity came in. They teamed up with Sobaski Abbey Carpet and Floor who donated materials and provided the labor to give the family all new flooring.

“Your home should be a comfortable place for you and so if we can make it better for him that’s great for us, too,” said Kelly Manning, Sales Manager at Sobaski Abbey Carpet and Floor.

Green said the gesture moved her to tears.

“We live in a world where everybody wants you to believe everybody is nuts or crazy whatever the case may be, so much is going wrong with everything. But they forget about, as my grandmother would say, the bricklayers. Those that are laying bricks every day with kind gestures for one another,” Green said.

She said the new floors have given her one less thing to worry about and Tajiri has already stopped sneezing and itching.

“We’re just really happy that this is going to make a big difference in both of their lives,” said Scott Hawes, Associate Executive Director at Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity.

Green said she and her son can finally get some long overdue, rest.

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