Monday, April 30, 2012

Ramp It Up - Project #1

April 29th, 2012 will be remembered as the start of Ramp It Up Ministry.

This past Sunday Ramp It Up Ministry was able to provide it's first wheelchair ramp to a 97 year old, sweetheart of a lady, Ms. Nash.  Ms. Nash is as sharp as a tack and lives with her granddaughter, who is taking care of her.  The Ramp It Up Team, consisting of Curtis Marti (old), Max Marti (8 yrs old), Kyce Sheppard (11 yrs old), Korbin Sheppard (10 yrs old), and Bryan Sheppard (oldest) visited the home and started working right away.  There were some logistical issue that had to be resolved, like removal of a handrail and determining the best location of the ramp, before construction began.  Once the location and type of ramp was agreed on, we hit the ground (well at least Kyce did with the post-hole digger).




So we dug holes and set posts and then put the ramp risers in place.




After the risers were in, we went to Lunch.  Thank goodness there was an Arby's close by AND a LOWE'S so we could pick up the rest of our materials.  Once we returned back to Ms. Nash's house, we started putting the ramp decking on.



 All that's left to do is cut down the posts, add a handrail, some grip tape and try it out.






Here's Ms. Nash's granddaughter and the building crew.


Curtis, who is an outstanding occupational therapist, wouldn't think of leaving the site until we had tested the ramp with Ms. Nash in her wheelchair.  Only after he almost dumped Bryan out of it a few times.


And with the final, final test.  Ms. Nash's granddaughter takes her from the bottom to the top and into the home.


 So, Ms. Nash.......  THANK YOU for the opportunity to serve you a little bit.  We pray that you get better, that your hip heals, that you and your granddaughter know the love of your Savior Jesus Christ and that you can be that much more mobile with the Ramp It Up ramp.