Project Targets New Home For Paralyzed Girl

GREENWOOD, Ind. -- After her spinal injury, Samantha Allen and her family have met challenges that no one would want to face. A nonprofit organization now hopes to help them clear the next one: getting a new home.

Samantha was 8 when she was struck by a car while crossing a street outside her south-side Indianapolis home in May 2003. Her spinal cord was broken at the base, and she is now confined to a wheelchair.

After surgeries and rehabilitation, some progress has been made.

"With therapy, she is able to move her arms slightly and she's moving her head as well, which is a miracle in itself," said her father, Jerry Allen.

After the injury, the family moved to Greenwood. The home is cramped and not handicapped-accessible, and with medical bills mounting, her parents have struggled to make the residence a better environment for their daughter.

Jerry Allen had to give up his masonry business, and his wife, Priscilla, needs to be home for Samantha and her three other children. Buying a bigger home hasn't been an option.

That's where Samantha's House -- a group formed in part by Mike Hunt and Indianapolis lawyer Jim Keller -- comes in.

The group was formed to give the Allens a new home. It is asking for donations from the public to help make that happen.

"For this family to thrive, they need a situation where Samantha can do more things for herself," said Hunt, whose own daughter is paralyzed. "It does the whole family good."

Keller, who represented Samantha following the injury, said he hopes people in the Indianapolis area will rally behind the 9-year-old.

"She is a deserving little girl who needs it more than anything," Keller said.