Newsletter

Volume 6, Issue 5

May 2024

14 Ramps in a Day!

The Amarillo Day of Caring on April 26 was a truly special one for the Texas Ramp Project. On that day volunteers built a total of 14 ramps for clients in the Amarillo area needing safe access.

In prior years, the Amarillo Ramp Project had built four to six ramps for the United Way of Amarillo and Canyon’s Day of Caring. This year the United Way CEO came to region coordinator Henry Wyckoff and asked, “How many ramps can you build in one day?” “Fourteen,” Henry responded.

And he made it happen! He lined up seven build team leaders, and, with careful planning, each team built a ramp in both the morning and afternoon. The United Way provided volunteers from numerous businesses in the Amarillo-Canyon area, funded the materials, and provided lunch.

Henry's text on Friday evening read, "We pulled it off. 14 ramps in one day with no serious problems." A tremendous accomplishment, many grateful families, and great visibility for TRP and our mission!

Safety Considerations

Your safety is a top priority.

TRP has continuously promoted safety for you and your volunteers from staying hydrated to properly handling power tools. There is something else we should have had on our list of safety features: make sure your tetanus vaccination is up to date. Working outside as we do opens up the possibility of exposure. Tetanus vaccination is recommended every 10 years.

New Website is a Hit!

TRP’s newly redesigned website went live on February 29. Statistics gathered since its inception revealed 12,400 visitors through May 18, with 28,800 views. The largest number of views—totaling 9,000—centered around either requesting a ramp or determining where TRP builds. About 1,100 wanted to find out “About Us,” and 973 landed on the Volunteer page. A few visitors came through volunteermatch.org.

The largest number of visitors—about 5,500—found TRP through Google and nearly 1,000 from Bing and Yahoo, indicating that many visitors used a search engine. About 5,400 were direct entries of TRP’s web address. Nearly all visitors were from the United States, although there were a surprising 78 inquiries from Germany and a few from South Korea, Canada and India.

Volunteer of the Month: Vanessa Baker, Database Administrator

If you have anything to do with ramp reports and the TRP database, you probably know Vanessa Baker. Vanessa showed up in November 2012 just as TRP was converting to the Salesforce database—and wondering who knew enough to manage it. Vanessa had a computer science degree and 18 years as a programmer. She was looking for a volunteer slot, and the match was made!

Vanessa actually learned about TRP when she inquired about a ramp for a person who needed one.

Always willing to serve others, she spent many Saturdays building ramps in and around Dallas. When she met her fiancé, Barry Ferrill, he joined up. Barry’s brother had become a quadriplegic at age 26 after a diving accident, so he knew how much difference a ramp makes. “He said it was a no brainer for him to volunteer,” Vanessa says.

Today the two, now living in Canton, build ramps in Van Zandt County. They try to build once a week, weather permitting, and have built 16 ramps so far this year.

But back to the database. Vanessa has interfaced with Salesforce and with many regional leaders and data coordinators to enter build data, conduct searches, and troubleshoot glitches. The past few years have led to even greater involvement in improving database functions. Vanessa has worked with the board and consultants to implement a duplicate check form to reduce duplicate referrals and to revise the referral form with an autocomplete feature for addresses.

Despite her database prowess, Vanessa’s heart is definitely with building ramps. For her, the best part is knowing that in a few hours she can change a person’s life. The best moment is seeing the recipient use the finished ramp. “I realize how fortunate and blessed I am,” she says.

Vanessa has an active Facebook page, full of photos of ramp builds. Barry travels around Texas for his job, and Vanessa often goes along. “We meet so many people who ask us about Texas Ramp Project because they see our posts,” she says. “They either need a ramp or want to know how to get involved with Texas Ramps.”

Vanessa is a Texas native, having grown up in Irving and graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University. After bouncing around a bit in small Texas towns, she is settled in Canton. She and Barry own 14 acres there and are planning to build a house soon. Barry also owns a 100-acre farm in Kentucky with over 65 head of Black Angus cattle.

Travels to Kentucky have led to a new fascination with the Kentucky Derby.

Vanessa and Barry just attended their third race. Vanessa’s Facebook page is full of Derby photos and especially the great outfits and hats she sports for the occasion. She also loves to travel and support animal rescue groups.

90 Second TRP Video

The Texas Ramp Project has a 90-second video that captures the essence of our work assisting people with disabilities. This video focuses on one of TRP’s most valuable assets—its volunteers. Feel free to send this video to all your volunteers, friends and donors so they can see in a flash what we are all about. The video will also be posted on TRP’s website.

https://youtu.be/_mc0Pl67R4E

Recent Grants and Donations

You may be seeing certain churches listed in the newsletter nearly every month. That is because they have set up a donation schedule on a monthly or quarterly basis. These churches range from Hill Country Fellowship and The Church at Horseshoe Bay in Austin West to the Langen/Wink Bible Class in East Texas Tyler. TRP is grateful to churches that find ways to give and sustain our work in their region.

Grants and donations received in the past month include the following:

$20,000 for Austin East from Capital Area Housing Finance Corporation.
$15,000 for San Angelo from The Art & Eva Camunez Tucker Foundation.
$10,439 for Amarillo from United Way of Amarillo (Day of Caring).
$10,000 for Texoma (Grayson Co.) from Clara Blackford Smith & W. Aubrey Smith Charitable Foundation.
$10,000 for Texoma (Grayson Co.) from Byrd Fielder Livengood Charitable Trust.
$5,000 for Wichita Falls from Dillard Family Foundation.
$5,000 for Austin East from Giddings Breakfast Lions Club.
$5,000 for Dallas from Women of St. Michael & All Angels Church.
$5,000 for Temple/Belton (Coryell Co.) from Coryell Community Church.
$5,000 for San Antonio Northwest from First United Methodist Church Boerne.
$5,000 for NCT East from Farmers Electric Charitable Foundation.
$5,574 for Waco South from Waco Habitat for Humanity.
$3,100 for Dallas and Bryan/College Station from Texas Instruments Foundation.
$2,500 for Houston and Permian Basin from BCCK Engineering, Inc.
$2,500 for Beaumont from Foundation for Southeast Texas.
$2,000 for Lubbock from H-E-B.
$1,686 for Houston from Good Shepherd Church Cypress.
$1,639 for Bryan/College Station from Rotary Club of College Station.
$1,500 for Dallas from Axxess Technology Solutions.
$1,200 for Austin East from Oviedo Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat.
$1,113 for Amarillo from Amarillo Habitat for Humanity.
$1,000 for Dallas from CMIT Solutions 1195.
$1,000 for San Antonio Central from SASO Inc. North.
$1,000 for Austin East from Sons of Hermann.
$854 for McAllen from El Valle District of the United Methodist Church.
$539 for Austin West from The Church at Horseshoe Bay.
$500 for Bryan/College Station from Knights of Columbus (in honor of Jerry Gritter)
$500 for East Texas Marshall from New Destinations, Inc.
$438 for East Texas Jacksonville from United Way of Rusk County.
$350 for Austin West from Hill Country Fellowship.
$308 for Austin North from Christ Lutheran Church.
$200 for Bryan/College Station from St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
$189 for San Antonio Northeast from Cranes Mill Baptist Church.
$150 for Bryan/College Station from St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church.
$100 for East Texas Tyler from Langen/Wink Bible Class.
$100 for Victoria North from Gonzales County Retired Teachers Association.

Scott Badger (left). San Antonio Central region coordinator, accepts a $1,000 donation from SASO Boys in April.

Trailer Safety and Insurance Coverage

The use of trailers is a critical part of ramp construction. And more importantly, the safety of our volunteers and others is TRP’s No. 1 priority. Therefore: we're running this article for a second time.

Trailers used in ramp construction are often provided by sponsors and service organizations, meaning that TRP is not always the only user. Hence we do not have complete control over the maintenance of the trailers. However, it is important to take a few important steps to verify the trailers’ safety prior to our use. Always perform the following important safety checks prior to use:

Verify load (weight capacity) of the trailer, and do not exceed weight limits.
Ensure proper weight distribution of the load.
Verify towing capacity of the vehicle pulling the trailer.
Be sure you are using the proper size and type of trailer hitch.
Use safety chains to connect to the trailer hitch as a backup.
Check that all lights, brake lights, and turn signals on the trailer are connected to the towing vehicle and functioning properly.
Inspect the tires on both the towing vehicle and the trailer for inflation and wear before each trip.
Be sure the trailer has a valid license plate if applicable.

We have also received questions regarding insurance coverage for the trailers we use. There are two aspects to the insurance coverage: property damage and liability. TRP does not own or have title to these trailers. They are all owned either by individuals or by sponsor organizations. The owners are responsible for insurance coverage for damage from an accident, theft, vandalism or other incidents. The decision to carry property damage coverage is made by the owner or organization, not TRP.

Liability coverage extends to the drivers of the vehicles, not the trailer. Any TRP volunteer driving the trailer must have liability insurance in their name. If an accident occurs, the individual’s liability insurance would be used for primary coverage. However, to protect the organization from liability claims, TRP carries an umbrella policy. It may come into play if an accident occurs where a volunteer is driving to and from the work site and TRP is made a party to the claim.

As a reminder, if in the unlikely event there is an accident with any volunteer when traveling to or from a build site, be sure to contact Sandy Knutson with the details.

TRP volunteers have driven thousands of miles to build ramps for neighbors in need without a significant accident or claim. Thank you for your commitment to safety.

Ramp of the Month: Bryan/College Station Region

Brazos County

Mr. Don W., 55, was referred by Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as Don’s existing ramp was so rotted that he fell through it, resulting in injuries so severe he had to be seen in the ED. Not only did the eight Brazos Valley Ramp Project volunteers rebuild the 36 foot ramp, they repaired the porch as well.

We hope you enjoy having the newsletter sent to you directly, as it is filled with useful information, building hints and tips, data collection updates and processes, client stories, special announcements and recognitions.

The newsletter only does its job when it is dispersed and shared with all who might be interested. We encourage you to liberally pass it on to others in your region.

Also, do send email addresses of people in your region who should be receiving it, along with their name and TRP region, to Sandy Knutson at sjknutson@texasramps.org.

If you prefer to NOT receive the newsletter, you can unsubscribe by emailing sjknutson@texasramps.org and asking for your name to be removed or use the "Unsubscribe" link below.

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