The Ramp Champs

Texans love the ability to go and do as they desire—freedom that a lot of folks can take for granted. For some, leaving home is a struggle.

But Texans also care about their neighbors, so it’s not surprising that a statewide army of 3,500 volunteers works year-round to give life-changing mobility to those dependent on wheelchairs.

The nonprofit Texas Ramp Project has coordinated the construction of more than 27,500 ramps that, if placed end to end, would stretch 142 miles. Recipients of the simple but durable wooden ramps are low-income older adults and others with disabilities identified by health care providers.

“Ramps change lives,” says Keith R. Henderson, TRP president. “They bring safety, independence and improved quality of life. They also ease the burden on family and caregivers. With safe access, older adults can age in place at home in their own environment. Where else can you show up on a Saturday morning and go home four hours later having transformed a person’s life?”

Such transformations originated in 1985, when members of the Richardson Kiwanis Club built a wheelchair ramp. One build after another led to the creation of the Dallas Ramp Project, which led to the construction of 1,400 ramps and showed a clear statewide need.

In 2006, TRP was incorporated to build ramps on a much broader scale. John Laine, who had served as volunteer director of the Dallas Ramp Project, founded TRP and became its executive director. He continued in that capacity until late last year.

“Personally, I believe God gave each of us skills, and our job is to learn what those skills are and to use them to help others,” Laine says. “I was given certain skills that seem to have blended well with TRP. It has been a blessing for me to have had this work put into my path.”

TRP doesn’t accept direct requests from clients or families seeking ramps. Referrals must come from a third-party health care provider via the TRP website, texasramps.org. That’s also the web address for volunteering and making donations.

After an eligible ramp request is processed, TRP directs a trained surveyor to visit the prospective ramp recipient and design a structure that meets the client’s needs. A volunteer construction crew then implements the design, typically in a few hours, with the help of precut wood delivered by TRP.

“Two hours of preparation probably saves three hours at the build site,” says Tom Canfield of Fredericksburg, a surveyor and construction coordinator. Canfield has had a hand in more than 100 ramps.

Shortly after daybreak in July 2023, he and four friends converged on the rural home of Oral Beasley, who used a motorized wheelchair because of a stroke. Thanks to Canfield’s prep work and his team’s carpentry skills, Beasley was cruising smoothly on his new ramp by midday.

Beasley died just three months after the build, but his wife, Patsy, says the ramp drastically improved his well-being. She praises Canfield and his crew “for doing such a beautiful thing, the first time anyone helped us like that. It took away my husband’s fear about tumbling over.”

Regaining freedom and no longer feeling trapped at home are common experiences relayed by ramp recipients.

To make mobility miracles happen, TRP partners with churches, civic clubs, businesses, military units, youth groups and other organizations, says Sandy Knutson, TRP executive director. Among the most active are electric cooperatives, which are guided by the co-op principle of Concern for Community.

Co-op employees live up to that principle by performing community service for members who are also their neighbors and friends.

CoServ, an electric co-op based in Denton, became actively involved in TRP in 2016, and since then CoServ employees have built more than three dozen ramps. The CoServ Charitable Foundation has awarded $71,000 in grants to the nonprofit.

“For people facing surgery or who have other mobility issues, traversing even a few steps can be dangerous,” says Conan Tearney, CoServ client services manager. “It’s a great feeling knowing you helped build something with your hands that means so much to a co-op member.”

Another ardent TRP supporter, Wood County Electric Cooperative, has donated $25,000 through its member-funded charitable foundation that helps nonprofits in its nine-county service area in northeast Texas. Employee volunteers are also involved in builds.

“Our mission statement is: Providing safe and reliable electric service while improving our communities where we live and serve,” says Paige Eaton, communications director. “Caring for the communities we serve is embedded in what we do every day. Our members are our neighbors, and in Co-op Country, you look out for one another. TRP is just one of the ways we can do that.”