The Wildwood United Methodist Church in Magnolia, Texas, achieved out to our Specialized Education Supervisor, Billy Viars, understanding that our components could enable their attempts to develop wheelchair ramps for folks in need who have been unable to afford them. Wildwood UMC volunteers have been constructing charitable ramps in Montgomery County because 2019, but the rising value of lumber has strained their methods. Simpson Sturdy-Tie has stepped in to support by giving components for this lead to. Hear from Robert Tonti, ramp plan coordinator at Wildwood as he discusses the want for these wheelchair ramps.
Our Wildwood church team has crafted three wheelchair ramps so much this yr, just one in March and two in June. We are thankful to Simpson Strong-Tie not only for their donation of components for these tasks, but also for their fast response to our solicitation. One of the ramps was an crisis due to the fact the consumer was coming household from the medical center in a wheelchair for the initial time on June 3, with no secure way to enter his dwelling. Offering a ramp in this situation was especially essential to us individually because the ramp was for the uncle of just one of our church custodians. The ramp essential to be in place with only one week’s discover for study, structure, procurement and construction—everything.
Our church Local community Assistance Ministry funded the lumber for the ramp, and Simpson Robust-Tie donated 15 lb. of deck screws. This incorporated a 5 lb. box of 3 1/2″ T25-head deck screws, a 5 lb. box of 2 1/2″ T25 deck screws and a 5 lb. box of 1 5/8″ T25 deck screws. Thanks to Dan Scullion at Simpson Robust-Tie, the screws arrived just in time! We got the wheelchair ramp completed just two hrs before the consumer returned property from the healthcare facility.
Design of wheelchair ramps is an ongoing require seemingly not satisfied by any governmental programs or health-related insurance policies. The retail charge of an Individuals with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp is simply over and above the financial functionality of lots of people who need to have one. Time permitting, there are personal donors running via the Texas Ramp Challenge (TRP), a statewide nonprofit group, to whom our Wildwood Church and a lot of volunteer teams across Texas can use for economical support exclusively for ramps–but cash are constrained and do not extend considerably adequate.
Ramps constructed through a TRP application are submitted by healthcare staff and/or social workers for the reward of clientele who have the two medical requirement and financial will need. For instance, the ramp pictured under was created by Wildwood volunteers in March for a nurse caregiver to support her aged mom. She simply could not get her mother in and out of the property without having a ramp. Simpson Powerful-Tie furnished the 15 lb. of screws essential, and TRP funded the lumber.
The subsequent ramp (under), built June 14, 2022, with screws from Simpson Robust-Tie and lumber funded by our church and TRP, was for another daughter-caregiver dwelling with her elderly mom who caught pneumonia before this calendar year and had to be lifted down the stairs by ambulance staff on an crisis phone. Since there was no ramp, they had not previously manufactured even a regime physician check out, treatment that might perhaps have prevented the crisis. The daughter instructed me, “We are so grateful for the ramp and that I can now get my mom in and out of the home safely.”
There are many mobility-afflicted sufferers in our communities, both trapped or sensation trapped in their properties, for absence of a ramp. They are dialysis sufferers needing recurrent visits to clinics, the aged needing to see medical doctors, amputees, or incident victims in the clinic uncertain how to get into their households when they initial appear dwelling in a wheelchair.
We are thankful to organizations like Texas Ramp Project and Simpson Solid-Tie for providing supplies so our volunteers at Wildwood UMC and volunteer organizations throughout Texas can support these patients with their mobility and ease and comfort.
