Homeowners group balks at playhouse for 6-year-old with leukemia

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The parents of a young girl with leukemia want to build their daughter a playhouse, but they've been blocked by their homeowners association.

Pete and Jennifer Schultz, who live in the Kansas City suburb of Raymore, Missouri, say their 6-year-old daughter, Ella Joe, can't play with other children because of her health.

"She's earned this -- she deserves it," Pete Schultz told The Kansas City Star. "She can't get out and play with other kids. This playhouse is what she would have. Is it really going to hurt someone?"

The homeowners group released a statement on its website, saying the proposal for a "barn-style" playhouse was denied because it didn't have enough details to merit an exemption.

"Our hearts are with Ella Schultz and her family as they battle this terrible illness," it read.

The Stonegate of the Good Ranch is working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation "to see if we can figure out a way to make Ella's wish come true" and has requested additional information from the charity and a construction company that has offered to build the playhouse.