Media Lies and Irresponsible Journalism

The True Story:

Mrs. Kessler, a double-amputee, applied to Medicade to have a wheelchair ramp built in the front of her house allowing her entry and exit of her home. She was approved by medicade for the project and Brothers took on the project with a 30 day time limit for completion. Brothers immediately contacted her Home Owners Association to get final approval for the project (if her HOA was not contacted Brothers would have been fined and potentially sued by the Association). Mrs. Kesslers HOA, however, did not approve the work to be done until the 30 day time limit expired. Brothers worked to maintain contact with Mrs. Kessler through out the application details, however, she was unresponsive to countless telephone calls and voice mails. As soon as Brothers heard back from the HOA they helped Mrs. Kessler reapply for the Medicade grant which was approved right away.

While Brothers helped Mrs. Kessler reapply for the grant she contacted Tom Martino, a journalist known for exposing shady company's and organizations, telling him that Brothers was at fault for her ramp not being built. Tom Martino rushed to BRI's office building with cameras and accusations, ready to put the organization to shame. However, instead of finding out BRI was to blame, he found a different culprit, Mrs. Kessler's HOA. Rhonda Hill, Brothers Home Maintenance and Repair Administrator, explained the entire application process and explained that the HOA did not respond in time for BRI to do the work. Tom Martino left by saying that BRI was a good organization and that he knew the organization would never try and leave someone trapped in her house.

When Brothers got approval from the HOA they set up a time to build the ramp, but Mrs. Kessler still would not respond to phone calls and voice mails. Finally, Jason Stutzman, BRI HMR Director went out to her house to see what was going on. He found another company building a wheelchair ramp which was Paid for by Tom Martino. When asked what he thought of the situation Stutzman responded by saying "Tom Martino could have paid us the money to build the ramp and we would have gladly done it, but I suppose that wouldn't make for a very good TV story".

Brothers is slated to do a bathroom remodel for Mrs. Kessler sometime in the next month. It should also be noted that BRI has build five wheelchair ramps for disabled people in the last two weeks.





The TOM MARTINO Version (also known as the "yellow version"):

Wheelchair Ramp Red Tape