Arkansas retirees pitch in to make homes accessible for disabled

Greg Kern (left) uses a sledgehammer to drive a stake into place while J.D. Little (center) holds it level while building a wheelchair ramp at a home on Marlborough Street in Little Rock on Wednesday.
Greg Kern (left) uses a sledgehammer to drive a stake into place while J.D. Little (center) holds it level while building a wheelchair ramp at a home on Marlborough Street in Little Rock on Wednesday.

It was the best birthday present she had ever received, Janice Coats said.

For Coats, who is newly 92 and uses a walker to get around, it was difficult to get up and down her front porch steps.

But now, thanks to some volunteers who started helping others like Coats in Little Rock and North Little Rock 30 years ago, her life is a little easier.

"I thank the Lord for it," she said of the plywood ramp she now has to help her leave her home for church and visits to the doctor.

In 1987, a group of mostly AT&T retirees started meeting nearly every Wednesday to build ramps for people who use walkers and wheelchairs. Three years later, the Americans with Disabilities Act passed, requiring most businesses to install ramps. But many people still didn't have access to their own front doors.

"You think about this: Someone who's [in a wheelchair], they put themselves at risk every time they attempt to leave," said David Shatley, the group's construction coordinator.

Not all families can afford to install a ramp, and members of the AT&T Pioneers saw that need as well as an opportunity to make use of their free time after retirement.

The group now consists of more than 30 volunteers and has built more than 1,250 ramps, at a rate of about 40 per year.

Demand is steady. At any given time, Shatley said, the group has two to six ramps on its to-do list.

The basic frame is standard and complies with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, but each ramp is unique and specific to the person's home, he said.

"You tend to remember every one of them," Shatley said of the ramps and their grateful recipients.

The materials for each ramp cost from $350 to $1,000. Community development block grants in Little Rock and North Little Rock fund the projects.

"The government can only do so many things, and we've got to depend on our people to contribute, to volunteer," Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said at a ceremony honoring the group last week.

Not all of the volunteers are AT&T employees, Shatley said. Some retirees happen to pass by while the group is working and want to know if they could help, too.

"We'll take anybody that wants to come out and that wants to help," Shatley said. The group now includes retirees from CenterPoint Energy and the Little Rock School District.

Ramp construction can begin as early as 5:30 a.m., and when the volunteers finish a project about 9 a.m. or 10 a.m., they usually go to breakfast at Homer's Restaurant or another diner-style restaurant, former construction coordinator Gene Butler said.

Butler said he enjoyed working with the crew, even on projects that were sometimes "a comedy of errors," resulting in minor injuries to group members. The work was always rewarding, he said.

"It's just a really good group," he said. "Being retired is good, but it's nice to be able to contribute."

Metro on 08/03/2017

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