Lions call for locals to launch ramp program

COUNTY – The Larsen-Winchester Lions Club is putting out the call for a civic group in Waupaca County to roll out its own wheelchair ramp building program to meet what organizers say is a steady, year-round need for accessible home entrances.

Volunteers build and install ramps at the homes of people who use wheelchairs or have limited mobility. Lead volunteer Bruce Stowe said he frequently gets calls from residents in Waupaca County who need a ramp, even though it’s largely outside the club’s official service territory.

“We go a little over the county line, but there are areas we just don’t cover,” Stowe said. “A club in the Waupaca area and a club in the Fond du Lac area would be helpful, because those are two areas that are fairly close to us, but we don’t cover.”

The Larsen-Winchester Lions ramp building program serves homes within a 25-mile radius of the clubhouse in Larsen, covering about 72 square miles. Stowe said there are “unmet needs” in Waupaca County that go beyond what the club can reasonably cover.

The program has a consistent backlog of requests. As of last week, the club had installed 1,516 ramps since starting the program in 1989. The ramps are installed year-round as long as the weather allows.

Stowe said the requests for ramps come from older adults who can no longer safely use stairs; people recovering from knee or hip surgery; and children who use wheelchairs long term, and whose families face daily challenges getting them in and out of the house and into adapted vehicles.

“These ramps take away their anxiety,” Stowe said. “They’re able to get in and out of the house without having to call their son or daughter or neighbor or an ambulance. It gives them some freedom to get in and out of the house easily.”

Without safe ramps, Stowe said families often “try to adapt” on their own, sometimes building makeshift structures that are too steep, too narrow or lacking railings.

“What they build is not acceptable, in my mind, because it’s not the correct angle, it’s not the correct width, it’s not the correct safety features,” he said.

“They’re playing with having another problem … it collapses, or they fall off the edge, or something like that, to make it worse.”

In other cases, people may be forced to leave their homes and move to places without stairs that are easier to navigate.

Making the ramps
Stowe said it does not take advanced carpentry skills to run a ramp program.

“It’s not a high skill requirement from a volunteer standpoint,” he said. “Most handymen can easily do it once they’re given the guidelines of the pitch and the width and the railings. You just have to know how to read the specifications,” which can be found in online ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) guidelines, he said.

The Larsen-Winchester volunteers pre-build ramp sections in their club workshop, then transport and assemble them on site. Other clubs, such as the Grand Chute Lions, build ramps entirely on site.

Pre-building, Stowe said, has advantages and tradeoffs.

“We like working in a shop because it’s nice and clean and level,” he said. “But then you have the problem of transporting these sections.”

Typically, three to four volunteers can handle both building and installing a ramp, Stowe said. Larger ramps might require five to eight people, depending on how quickly the work needs to be completed.

“My standard is, we arrive on site at 8:30 in the morning and we’re gone by noon,” he said, adding that with enough volunteers and materials ready, a typical install can be completed in about three hours.

Partnering up

For families who struggle to afford their share, Stowe said he points them to churches and local nonprofits that can sometimes help with funding. An anonymous local donor also recently began contributing to cover part of the cost when a homeowner cannot.

“The anonymous donor gets to feel like they’re contributing to the community where it’s needed,” he said, while homeowners get a ramp they otherwise might not be able to afford.

Some clubs that have a similar program seek grants to cover initial startup costs for lumber and tools. Stowe said that over time, especially if ramps are returned and reused, the program can become more self-sustaining.

Stowe said the Larsen-Winchester Lions will help any Waupaca County Lions club or civic group that wants to start a similar program. He has previously presented to the Waupaca Lions, though interest at the time was not enough to launch a program.

“Obviously things change,” he said. “We’re more than willing to host people to come see how we do it, and more than willing to come to their facility and talk to them about how we do it.”

For now, the calls keep coming and the demand for ramps never lets up. In Waupaca County, much of that need is still waiting to be met.