Mission

Imagine having a member of your family suddenly paralyzed or wheelchair-bound due a car accident, stroke, or aneurysm. In addition to all the emotional upheaval, you have to deal with doctors, insurance companies, and physical therapists – all the while trying to buoy the spirits of your loved one. Then you realize that they will be coming home soon, AND THERE IS NO WAY THEY CAN GET INTO THE HOUSE!  Even if you can afford to hire a contractor to build a ramp, it is not easy to find one who is wiling to take on this small of a job – especially on short notice.

The mission of the Ramps for Neighbors ministry (RfN) is to ease the burden on families dealing with this scenario by building a wheelchair ramp at their house free of charge.  The church takes on the burden of designing the ramp, working with the building inspector to get a permit, buying, storing and tansporting the materials, building the ramp, and celebrating the accomplishment.  The family can focus on supporting their loved one and they, in turn, have a chance to feel supported by their community.

Vision

The vision for RfN is to eventually have a self-sustaining ministry that builds four to six ramps a year in the Greater Lowell area.  The focus is on building ramps, but we will consider other exterior constructon projects that come to us.  Our goal is to have all projects funded by grants so we don’t have to rely on continuing donations.  We have partnered with Central Congregational Church in Chelmsford so the ministry can be supported by two congregations.  We welcome all interested parties to join us regardless of church affilitation or faith tradition.

Background

For many years, All Saints (together with Central Congregational Church) sent high schoolers and adults to West Virginia once a year to participate in the West Virginia Workcamp.  This was a mission program where teams  would make repairs to the homes of people who weren’t able to or couldn’t afford to make the repairs themselves.  Our participation in this program ended in 2020, however, with the advent of the COVID pandemic.

In 2022, All Saints called a new rector, Father Sean Maloney, who came to us from a parish in Corpus Christi, Texas.  His former parish was involved with a project that built wooden handicapped ramps at people’s houses when they became wheelchair bound. Father Sean had heard that the West Virginia Workcamp ministry had ended and he proposed starting a local ramp-building ministry to take its place.

Planning for the ministry started in the fall of 2022 and the program was announced to the parish in June of 2023.  Parishioners wholeheartedly supported the new ministry and donated enough money to buy the building materials for a ramp.  In August of 2023, we built our first ramp at the home of a relative of a parishioner who had recently become wheelchair-bound.  It was a great success, and planning began to continue the ministry and expand it to build several ramps per year.

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