Gladstone teen gets her ‘extreme’ wish

Two Oregon City women create Oregon Dream Makeover, and first recipient is Gladstone High grad recovering from leukemia

By Ellen Spitaleri

The Clackamas Review, Nov 11, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Ragan Corliss and Jocelyn Webber, co-founders of Oregon Dream Makeover, above, are set to begin re-decorating the bedrooms of Marissa Huddleston.

Ellen Spitaleri / Clackamas Review

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Marissa Huddleston had a dream – the Gladstone resident wanted an “extreme home makeover.”

When Ragan Corliss and Jocelyn Webber heard about Huddleston’s dream, they decided they could make it come true. The two women co-founded Oregon Dream Makeover, a non-profit organization set up to give home makeovers to worthy recipients, and both credit Huddleston as being their “inspiration.”

Huddleston learned she had Chronic Myelogenouse Leukemia (CML) last spring, when she was a senior at Gladstone High School. This past summer she received a bone marrow transplant from her 15-year-old sister Molly, and on her 18th birthday found out that she is cancer free, and that her bone marrow is “completely engrafted,” she said.

On Sept. 5, Webber put on a fundraiser at Studio Catwalk, where she works as a hairstylist, and the proceeds went to help defray Huddleston’s medical bills.

In the middle of the fundraiser, Corliss and Webber announced that Huddleston was the first recipient of a home makeover.

“I started crying; it was incredible – I was so overwhelmed,” Huddleston said.

“I was thrilled that they wanted to do both girls’ rooms over – it is such a sweet thing that they included Molly, since she was vitally important as well. Without Molly, there would be no Marissa,” said Tracy Huddleston, the girls’ mother.

“I was overwhelmed that strangers would want to do such nice things for us – it is a huge blessing,” she added.

The plan now is for Corliss and Webber to redecorate Marissa’s and Molly’s two bedrooms, and if they can put together enough money, they would like to re-do the kitchen and some of the other rooms as well.

Corliss noted that Pastor Tom Hurt in Oregon City heard Webber speak about the project at a statewide chamber of commerce event, and he organized a crew to do landscaping work at the Huddleston home last weekend.

Reasons to reach out

Webber said that a client told her about Marissa Huddleston’s cancer, and she decided to organize a fundraiser to help with medical expenses.

She then met Corliss, an interior decorator and the owner of Interiors by Decorating Den, at a North Clackamas Chamber of Commerce event.

“I asked her if she would be interested in doing the two girls’ rooms. She got really excited and said, ‘Let’s try to do the whole house,’” Webber said.

“I was looking for a good cause and Jocelyn came up with the perfect opportunity – and everything came together really well,” Corliss said.

Webber said she was also looking for a way to honor her father, who died last October at age 43 from an aortic aneurism.

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