I love to volunteer my time to worthy causes.?ÿ
I'm currently volunteering with a local group about once a month building ADA ramps for those who don't have mobility options to leave their homes for medical, personal or emergency medical response teams to assist them should the need arise. I found this group through a coworker and love using my hands to make things. Recently we completed 100 miles of ramps built in Texas. To me, this is quite an accomplishment seeing how most ramps built are about 30 feet in total length.
I find this task of ramp building to be VERY rewarding personally, not to mention how appreciative the home owners are of the service we provide.
Recently the group has asked for volunteers to be "build leaders" and I have nominated myself so I'm excited to see where this goes and I hope I can keep helping for many years to come. I also volunteer with other organizations but this group is the most consistent and one I find the most rewarding.
Do you volunteer? If so, where do you give your time??ÿ
Kudos to you sir
I volunteer with Engineers Without Borders. I have worked on two water supply projects in Ecuador. I enjoy it a lot.?ÿ
When in business we averaged 1 or 2 plot plan to CO surveys per year for Habitat for Humanity for a total of 50+. ?????ÿ
I'm a volunteer enabler...I commute an hour and work my a** off so my wife can volunteer full time.?ÿ She's currently:
Secretary of the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity
Vice President of the Board of Directors for Reach of Washington County
President of the Board for St. John??s Shelter?ÿ?ÿ
I find this task of ramp building to be VERY rewarding personally, not to mention how appreciative the home owners are of the service we provide.
I can assure you that EMS appreciates your efforts as much as anyone.
I have volunteered with the local VFD/EMS for 31 years now. It's one of the few in this area still running a local ambulance. My wife has been doing it for 36 years. I can't seem to catch her no matter how hard I try.
I would like to make a suggestion if I may. We have several around our area that have ramps and some that need ramps. For mobile homes that are 2-3 feet off the ground, often a removable section of the railing on the porch is more useful for us than a ramp. It often depends on the location of the porch relative to the driveway and which way the ramp has to go for elevation.
Think of it like this. If the porch is about the same height as the back of the ambulance, the section of porch rail can be opened or removed and the stretcher can come off the porch just like coming out of the box. Lower the stretcher on the porch, pull it out, drop the wheels and go.
It is by no means a replacement for a ramp but sometimes it's better for EMS.
James
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Here is one that we, a group of men from our church, built.?ÿ We built several and also built some "small houses" for a ministry to abused women and children.?ÿ I've also volunteered with "Samaritan's Purse" to rebuild homes damaged by natural disasters.?ÿ My knees don't let me do much kneeling anymore so I just donate for materials for others to continue the work.
Andy
Noted! I'll bring this up to our group, if you don't mind. The only issue I see currently is our dealing with the city because we have to build to the standards they enforce. That being said, this sounds like an improvement that at least needs to be considered. Thank you for sharing.
Volunteer work comes in all sizes and shapes.?ÿ I encourage others to donate with their own special skills to be applied for the benefit of others.
In my case the current list consists of: Rural Water District Board of Directors, Cemetery Board of Trustees, Township Board Secretary, County 4-H Development Fund Board, School Board (100 employees) and Regional Education Service Center (500 employees).?ÿ Others in recent years include Historical Society Board (charter member) and Wholesale Water District Board of Directors.?ÿ I also serve on two international committees of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, one for about a dozen years (when it formed) and another since 1975.
In my idle time I attempt to sleep.?ÿ Had a special meeting of the Rural Water Board last evening for three hours.?ÿ Spent two hours this morning answering questions from our relatively new Manager about many things I have learned over the past 25 years (22 years of actual service) on how things really work.?ÿ Will spend about three hours this evening at the monthly meeting of the Regional Education Service Center Board including reviewing contracts for our top level management team.?ÿ Need to fill out the annual form for the Cemetery Board required by the County validating our income and expenses for 2020.?ÿ Need to finalize a date for the next Development Fund (in-person) meeting which is tough when you have a doctor, an attorney, an accountant, two teachers and a few others with demanding schedules on the Board.
This is our last build, earlier this month.
Hard to make a good guess with heavy clothing, hats and masks but maybe number three from the left on the back row???
@squirl?ÿ Nice looking ramp.?ÿ We fund out ramps locally - and I am glad to help with one exception.?ÿ Everyone who builds these wooden ramps for end users should consider portable aluminum ramps that can be reused.
Reason - in our community, often the person needing the ramp relocates.?ÿ You can't take it with you.
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A young couple I know donated a complicated ramp to the church where they were getting married about five years ago so that one of the bride's relatives could be present.?ÿ Now the church has closed.
Close...front row, far left (standing next to the woman in red plaid with the sign)
There are some ramps with switchbacks that we find hard to traverse with a stretcher but that one looks wide enough to easily make the turn, good job!
On a similar note, I wish homebuilders would do more to consider getting a stretcher into and out of bedrooms when they are building. One of our worst problem areas is a 14 unit government housing project.
James
@jaro Our home (now 5 years old) was built to "age in place".?ÿ All on one level, entrance on the same level as the driveway, ALL doors 3'-0", 4' halls, and "roll in" showers.?ÿ My 86 year old mother in law lives with us so we tried to keep that in mind.
Andy
Outstanding!?ÿ I scratched my head because several acquaintances built new houses that don't take those things into consideration.?ÿ I really regret that we bought a split-foyer house before my sister married a guy in a wheelchair.?ÿ They can't visit us.
A local barber added onto his house with the future in mind.?ÿ Wide doors, all on one level, etc.?ÿ Both he and his wife can still get around fine, but both had parents who lived to be 90.
I have tried talking a few people that were having houses built into trimming some of the corners in the halls. So far nobody has done it.
?ÿThere is one corner in my mother's house that I plan on trimming if she ever decides to replace the paneling in the hall. I'm not much of a carpenter but it looks to me like it wouldn't be hard to do on new construction and would make as much difference as an extra 6 inches in the hall width.
James
