‘Kids tug at the heart’
Cancer may do a lot of things, but it doesn’t stop a little boy battling leukemia from enjoying a new loft bed at his rural Ellendale home. My Happy Place from Mason City revamped Rourke Walcholz’s bedroom over the weekend before unveiling the finished project to him during a special ceremony Sunday morning. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
-Lisa Tan, My Happy Place Director
Rourke Wacholz and his family were forced to evacuate their rural Ellendale home for the weekend, but it was for a good cause that ended up erupting into excitement for the little boy fighting leukemia.
When Rourke returned home late Sunday morning with his parents, Michael and Chelsey, and his younger brother, Arlo, he found dinosaurs greeting him in the driveway and several other surprises inside the house. Among them was a bedroom makeover with a loft bed.
Representatives from My Happy Place in Mason City took over the Wacholz home on Friday and by the end of the weekend, they had completed a total makeover, including carpeting, electrical work with a ceiling fan, new bed and lots of interior decorating. Everything was accented with Rourke’s love of dinosaurs. Twelve volunteers were involved in the project.
“It’s a bedroom that looks like Better Homes & Gardens,” said Lisa Tan, executive director of My Happy Place. “We tried to incorporate anything dinosaurs from day one. It was an honor to do this room. It gives this boy a healing place. We don’t have a cure for cancer, but we have a cure for renewing in humanity.”
Katie Klemesrud of Mason City designed the room for Rourke. “It has been a journey,” she said. “This one was emotional. I hope a little bit of happiness was left on his heart.”
Providing the carpeting was Leon Christianson of Lake Mills, who has been involved with 29 projects so far through My Happy Place. “I hope I’m available for 29 more,” he said.
Tan said My Happy Place normally doesn’t go beyond 30 miles of Mason City. However, after reviewing Rourke’s application, she said there was no way she was letting this one go.
“This is a true family of love,” Tan said of the Wacholz family. “We had no doubt we wanted to give them the best,” she added.
The non-profit organization is focused on creating joyful spaces for the well-being of those with a serious health diagnosis. All nominees must have a documented chronic or terminal illness and be in current treatment.
The group received 65 private donations totaling $4,000, which exceeded its goal of $3,500 to do Rourke’s project.
While My Happy Place creates joyful makeovers for all ages, doing them for children like Rourke become extremely emotional for all those involved.
“Kids tug at the heart,” said Tan. “It’s so great to do this for a child.”
Added Klemesrud, “The hardest part of doing the room is knowing the parents and what they have to go through. It’s very emotional and hard to understand.”
Tan said part of the satisfaction her organization receives is bringing the community together.
“I hope every time they walk in this room, they are reminded of love,” she said.
Rourke has been fighting B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia since March 2021. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
“It’s always a roller coaster,” Chelsey said of her son’s illness.
She said the makeover was “overwhelming in the best way” for the family. “It helps with something he wanted, but we didn’t have the resources to do ourselves.”