Albuquerque Journal: Building independence with the New Mexico Ramp Project
Updated
Genny Prando had never received an SOS notification on her phone until Sept. 14. The notification was coming from the phone of Prando’s niece, Casey Thompson. It was alerting her that her niece was in trouble.
Seeing the location of the SOS was only minutes away from her work, Prando followed the directions and arrived at the scene of a two-car crash.
Inside one of the cars was Thompson. “Her car was all smashed up, and the fire people were trying to cut her out of the car,” Prando said. She sustained numerous fractures, including to both her ankles, her right wrist and several ribs.
“What wasn’t broken was really bruised,” Thompson said.
For roughly the next two months, Thompson was unable to walk. When she was finally able to get back on her feet, ”I can now kind of feel everything I step on, from a slight incline or decline,” she said. “Like the stripes they put in parking lots — I can feel all of that.”
One of the biggest struggles for Thompson to navigate post-crash was right outside the front door at her aunt’s house, where Thompson lives. With an elevated front lawn, there was a set of stairs she needed to walk up in order to get up or down from the front door.
Thompson relied on the help of her aunt and uncle in order to get up and down the stairs safely but knew that would not be long-term solution. She needed to find a safer way to get in and out of the house.
She found her answer during a conversation with a lawyer who “recommended that I get in contact with the (New Mexico Ramp Project),” she said. After filling out an application, Thompson was approved to have a ramp built at her aunt’s home, free of charge.
The New Mexico Ramp Project has 32 ramp building teams spread across the state and has built 300 ramps since 2019. The nonprofit also operates fabrication shops in Albuquerque, Farmington, Española, Belen, Las Cruces and Hobbs.
Since its founding in 2019, the New Mexico Ramp Project has been building and providing free ramps for older adults and people with mobility issues across the state . The organization’s vision is to ensure that no New Mexicans lack access to their home because they lack the money to build a ramp themselves.
“When you look at the families we help, their houses are almost like a prison to someone in a wheelchair,” said Greg Hallstrom, executive director of the New Mexico Ramp Project. “That leads to a lot of issues. One is isolation and the second is depression, so (the ramps) really help the individuals and get them out of their houses.”
At the fabrication shops, volunteers design and build frames that will be used to construct the ramps. The frames go from the fabrication shops and into the hands of the build teams, who are all volunteers from across the state. The teams set up site surveys, speak with the ramp recipient and coordinate dates for the builds.
Hallstrom said the New Mexico Ramp Project purchases its building materials with help from public and corporate donations.
The build team that constructed Thompson’s ramp on Saturday were members of New Mexico Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization. The group arrived in the chilly morning hours and began breaking down how the ramp was going to be built.
This ramp was constructed with an unusual 90-degree turn at Thompson’s request.
“Normally, we would just come down and make a 180-degree turn and go back back the same way we came in, but she didn’t want to take up the parking spot,” team build leader Tim Westemeier said.
After walking his team through the build, the sound of power saws began to fill the air as the team of about 12 volunteers set to work . The ramp took roughly six hours to build, but the impact it will have on Thompson will be felt for many years to come.
“This is really been kind of a blessing. I was so glad they were able to come and do this,” Thompson said.
Aging & Long-Term Services Department uses Kiki Saavedra dollars to “ramp” up help for older adults and persons with mobility issues
More than 26% of persons aged 60 years and older in New Mexico have difficulty walking or climbing stairs. Further, 10% of New Mexicans aged 18 years and older and with a disability have an ambulatory difficulty; this percentage is higher than the national percentage (8%). New Mexico is ranked 5th highest among U.S. states for poverty rate (24%) for persons with disabilities. These vulnerable New Mexicans face geographic, economic, language, and cultural barriers in accessing the resources – such as residential accessibility ramps – they need to remain safely in their own homes. In response, ALTSD is committed to provide help.
In 2020, New Mexico State House Bill 225 was signed into law. HB225 established the Kiki Saavedra Senior Dignity Fund, a crucial investment in improving and delivering high-priority services for seniors across New Mexico. The legislation is named in honor of the late state Rep. Kiki Saavedra, and ALTSD manages and appropriates monies from the fund. ALTSD is proud to use monies from the Kiki Saavedra Senior Dignity Fund to support our partner, the New Mexico Ramp Project (https://nmramp.org/). The New Mexico Ramp Project is a charitable nonprofit that provides free ramps for older adults and persons with mobility issues across New Mexico. As partners, we are effectively using monies from the Kiki Saavedra fund to empower those with ambulatory disabilities and help older New Mexicans “age in place”.
Valencia County News-Bulletin – Local Nonprofit Ramps up the Gift of Access
Entering your own home sounds like an easy enough prospect, but if you have mobility challenges, it’s often easier said than done.
A new chapter of the New Mexico Ramp Project here in Valencia County is helping by building ramps for older adults and people with mobility issues.
In the last several months, a volunteer group with the First Presbyterian Church of Belen has completed four ramp projects in various communities.
Jerry Kuyk, pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Belen, said Bill Schattschneidler, the team leader for Valencia County, approached the church with the idea.
“He thought it was something we could get involved with. It started as a men’s ministry, but several women have joined as well,” Kuyk said.
One unique aspect of NMRP is it provides volunteers with materials and pricing spreadsheets, as well as isometric images of various ramp modules, which can be built off site and assembled at the client’s home.
The church has storage space for the raw materials and ramp modules, which is a big benefit to the project, the pastor said.
Because the nonprofit isn’t in a position to evaluate the medical or financial needs of prospective clients, it doesn’t take referrals directly from clients.
Kuyk said potential clients are asked to contact their health care provider or caseworker and request they fill out a request for a ramp at nmramp.org.
Even though the group has completed only a handful of projects, the pastor said the work is immensely satisfying.
“It’s very moving to see someone walk up the ramp with ease,” he said.
Greg Hallstrom, executive director of the New Mexico Ramp Project, said there are 10 teams around the state, in Hobbs, Las Cruces, Española, Artesia, Albuquerque and now Valencia County.
The New Mexico organization is actually a spin off of the Texas Ramp Project, he said.
“They (the Texas corporation) were building ramps in Las Cruces and felt it was appropriate to have a New Mexico organization, rather than pulling resources from Texas,” Hallstrom said. “Texas developed the program but we put our own spin on it (with the modules).
“I’m actually sliding out of the picture in Valencia County. My job is to train the local team and go away.”
As the program starts, volunteers are taught ramp building techniques, provided tools and materials and guided through the process of building a ramp.
The ramps are free to homeowners, Hallstrom said, and some will donate funds to the organization, but it’s in no way required.
If you need a ramp or know someone who does, call 505-585-3832 or visit nmramp.org to fill out a request form.
To help the New Mexico Ramp Project, you can volunteer your time building ramps or contribute funds. Each ramp costs an average of $2,000 in materials.
The New Mexico Ramp Project is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit that provides free ramps for older adults and people with mobility issues across New Mexico. People are identified by local health care providers and organizations knowing the financial and medical condition of the individual. The organization’s vision is that no New Mexico resident shall lack safe access because of financial limitations.
Hobbs Sun News - Ramp to Independence
