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Newsletter
Volume 6, Issue 3
March 2024
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Texas Ramp Project Newsletter
Reflections and New Growth
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As the TRP newsletter editor, I would like to share a few thoughts as we enter our sixth year of publication. Yes, it’s hard to believe that many years have passed. Almost 10,000 ramps have been built since that first newsletter appeared in April 2019. Over the intervening years, TRP has weathered everything from surviving the pandemic’s effects to managing fluctuating lumber costs to recruiting and maintaining volunteers to dealing with some crazy weather.
This newsletter has become our best way to share our successes, activities, ideas and challenges while celebrating and encouraging our volunteers and all who support our efforts across Texas.
But enough of reflection. I really want to get to the meat of this fifth anniversary edition of the TRP newsletter. This issue has spring written all over it. (Okay, go with me on the flower metaphors.) There are many new shoots of growth from the perennial roots established over the years, starting with our brand-new website. We’ve set records in ramp builds, revenues and communities served. We’ve also formed a new Regional Coordinator Advisory Committee, implemented Salesforce upgrades, and added a donor button on our Facebook page.
Our newsletter wouldn’t be complete without lifting up our Volunteer and Unsung Hero spotlights. These individuals have trusted us with their stories, and we are honored to bring them to a wider audience. The newsletter takes us into communities across our state with the hope of sharing our vision that no one in Texas should lack safe access for financial reasons.
Thank you to everyone who contributes to our monthly newsletter, and there are many. We trust the newsletter has helped to keep our TRP community supported, informed, encouraged and entertained. Your continued commitment and dedication to providing ramps for so many people is nothing short of a miracle and the very soul of our project.
Sandy Knutson
Executive Director
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TRP Celebrates New Website | |
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It has taken a village and several years to redesign and update the Texas Ramp Project website, but on March 1 the new site was officially announced. It’s clean, it’s sharp, it’s informative and, most important, it’s up to date. If you haven’t yet, take a look. You will be really impressed at what you see and find at www.texasramps.org.
“Have you ever changed a person’s life in a single day?” That’s the first thing visitors to the new site see, and it encapsulates what we do. The front page is full of the latest media articles and posts and an update on the number of ramps provided, miles of ramps built, and volunteer hours to date.
Links take you to news, videos, newsletters, board and staff, sponsors, and important documents including the latest Fact Sheet about TRP’s work. Volunteer and Donate buttons are on every page.
Discussions about improving the website date back to 2018 with former board
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president Garner McNett. Sam Lomeli, a
builder in Tarrant County, became volunteer website administrator, working with Kari Daelke and Kim Paternoster to manage software updates, security threats, upgrades, etc.
About three years ago, work on content and presentation became more serious. Garner, board member Natalia Martinez, executive director Sandra Knutson and president Keith Henderson all became involved, and over the past several months Sam and Keith collaborated to bring the site to fruition. Sam’s small website agency was hired to put a brand-new look on the site as well as to improve its internal functionality and usability for volunteers and donors.
Meanwhile, Keith has taken on responsibility for daily updates, meaning the site will be fresh every time you come back to it. Anyone who has suggestions for content to be added to the website or news updates, please contact Keith at khenderson@texasramps.org.
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Sam Lomeli found the Texas Ramp Project through a Meeetup.com group called Volunteer Love. He attended his first-ever ramp build on June 19, 2010. “To this day, I remember the feeling in my chest when the client, a tearful Mr. Solis, explained to us that rolling his chair out onto his new ramp was the first time in 7 months he had been able to leave his house. I was hooked.”
Sam has spent another 200 Saturdays since building ramps for folks in the Tarrant-Denton area. And countless other hours helping TRP finally have a website that reflects the joy and success of the work he fell in love with 14 years ago.
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A techie from the beginning, Sam built his first public website in 1996 as a freshman at UT–Brownsville. It was a book-exchange site that connected students on his campus with others who had books to buy/sell/trade so as to avoid the outrageous university bookstore prices. “I considered it a success when I was promptly invited into a meeting with concerned university representatives just a few weeks after its launch,” he says.
He continued website development for the next 17 years as a side hobby, until starting a family and leaving corporate operations management. Going full-time as a web developer provided the autonomy and time freedom his young family needed. He founded WPSiteHelper.com in 2016, and his small operation has grown to support clients all over the globe, as far away as New Zealand.
Sam still manages to build a few ramps a year, but with young children his time is limited. So he has found other ways to support the Ramp Project with his skills. After years of work helping develop the new TRP website, his company has taken on the role of web administrator.
“I was changed that Saturday morning back in June 2010,” Sam says. “I am proud to support the Texas Ramps mission, and as soon as my children are old enough, I will bring them to ramp builds to experience the magic of this wonderful organization first-hand.”
Connect with Sam at linkedin.com/in/samlomeli or wpsitehelper.com/contact.
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Sam's first ramp, built in 2010. The experience was life-changing for him. | |
Another 2010 ramp shows Sam (fifth from right) with the rest of the crew. | |
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New TRP Communications Monitor
Nancy DeLuca has taken over for Gary Gatzlaff monitoring TRP's phone and email accounts. Nancy has been volunteering with TRP the past year, mainly handling queries for information from regional leaders.
She will now be responding to inquiries coming in on TRP's main phone number, 214-558-0339, and email, info@texasramps.org. In addition to answering routine questions, she will be forwarding many inquiries to region coordinators and others in the field.
Welcome, Nancy.
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Media Release Form
TRP loves to have photos of ramp builds posted to Facebook, Instagram and other social media. We also welcome these photos for the website. But please remember, before posting any photo that contains a client, you must obtain a signed media release form allowing us to use the photo for publicity purposes.
This is even more important if the client is a child, in which case the parent must sign. Many team leaders just get a signed release as a matter of course if the client is photographed. Please be sure to get a release to ensure TRP does not publish a photo without permission. Click on the for copy of the release form. Click on this Text Link for a copy of the release form.
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Volunteer of the Month: Morris Horton
Abilene Region, Brown County
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Morris Horton’s life has been one of serving others—through Boy Scouts, Jaycees and Lions Club, and 20 years as a soccer coach and referee. He is a 30-year member of the Pecan Valley Kiwanis Club. And that’s only the beginning.
Morris met up with the Texas Ramp Project when Kiwanis Club colleagues David and Deborah Price were introduced to the program in 2013.
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Morris joined as a volunteer until 2019, when he replaced David Price as Brown County coordinator. David was a good teacher, Morris says. “I was a nail-and-hammer guy, but quickly learned to use a screw gun.” Last year Morris and his volunteers in Brown County built 11 ramps.
Born in Brownwood, Morris grew up mainly in West Texas. After attending Abilene Christian University and serving in the U.S. Army, he went back to Brownwood. Over the years he has run an insulation business and worked in finance, fence building and the oilfield. He spent 20 years as a manager with Walmart and then went with Firestone until retiring in 2012.
Morris has found it rewarding to see how a ramp can change somebody’s life. “It’s always great to see people’s faces and reactions when we all show up and get a ramp built in one day,” he says. “It’s a blessing to me to be able to help them.”
In February the Brownwood Bulletin covered a ramp build for a 70-year-old Brownwood woman. Five of the 13 volunteers helping build the 22-foot ramp were from the Brownwood Municipal Police Association. The others were from Pecan Valley Kiwanis and Austin Avenue Church of Christ. The article quotes Morris as saying, “You see a need, that’s why we do it.”
Morris and his wife, Janice, have a son and daughter and six grandchildren, all of whom have helped build ramps. The Hortons are active members of Austin Avenue Church of Christ and have served in jail ministry and on missions in South America and the Philippines. Morris also served on the missions committee and the board of the Cherokee Home for Children.
After all the mission travel, what is their favorite activity? A day trip to Marble Falls for pie at the Bluebonnet Café, enjoying the wildflowers along the way.
Link to the Brownwood Bulletin Article
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Region Coordinator Advisory Committee Meets
TRP’s new Region Coordinator Advisory Committee (RCAC) held its first meeting on March 13. The committee consists of six coordinators and two members of the board. The region coordinators are Scott Badger (San Antonio Central), Randy Kerkman (Austin Central), Les Schmaltz (Houston), Linda Shields (East Texas Longview), Steve Jackson (Waco South) and Henry Wyckoff (Amarillo). Pete Carey and Mark Hinzman are the TRP board liaisons for the committee.
The RCs led an informative and thought-provoking discussion concerning two key factors for success of a region: attracting new volunteers to the project and identifying and developing new team leaders. They shared several best practices during a candid discussion of both ideas and challenges as we seek to extend TRP’s reach. Other topics included building threshold ramps, reclaiming ramps no longer needed, painting ramps, and exploring options to obtain warehouse space.
Regions are using multiple methodologies for all these components. Additional information will be shared in future newsletters.
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Recent Grants and Donations | |
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Generous support continues for our work across the state, including $25,000 grants from three long-time Texas Ramp Project partners. Grants and donations received in the past month include the following:
- $25,000 for statewide use from Harry E. & Eda L. Montandon Charitable Trust.
- $25,000 for McAllen from Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation.
- $25,000 for Amarillo from Mary E. Bivins Foundation.
- $7,041 for statewide use from Home Depot.
- $5,000 for Austin North from Georgetown Health Foundation.
- $4,000 for Austin West from Hill Country Fellowship.
- $2,500 for Austin East from New Life Methodist Men, La Grange.
- $2,184 for Waco South from Waco Habitat for Humanity.
- $2,000 for Dallas from Texas Instruments Foundation.
- $1,070 for Amarillo from Amarillo Habitat for Humanity.
- $1,000 for Abilene Scurry County from Snyder Lions Club.
- $1,000 for Austin West from Johnson City Ministerial Alliance.
- $1,000 for San Angelo from Eldorado Game Association.
- $953 for East Texas Jacksonville from St. Matthew UMC.
- $539 for Austin West from The Church at Horseshoe Bay.
- $500 for East Texas Jacksonville from Evangelistic Temple.
- $400 for Wichita Falls from Guinn Foundation.
- $350 for Austin West from Hill Country Fellowship.
- $300 for San Antonio Central from The Fellowship of San Antonio.
- $100 for East Texas Jacksonville from Broyles Chapel Baptist Church.
- $100 for East Texas Tyler from Langen/Wink Bible Class.
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Donations Now Possible Through Facebook
After months of trying, we are finally in the process of adding a new DONATE button for visitors to the Texas Ramp Project Facebook page. This service is provided through Meta/Facebook via an exclusive arrangement with PayPal Giving Fund. This platform offers us an opportunity to reach and engage with new and existing supporters.
Here are a few of the features we plan to leverage:
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Unlike other services, PayPal Charitable Giving Fund doesn't charge nonprofits fees of any kind to use their services, so the Texas Ramp Project will receive 100% of funds contributed by donors.
- The Facebook button will not change the Donorbox service currently on our website.
- Facebook/Meta does not allow third parties other than PayPal to add a Donate button.
- If we find that this Donate option on Facebook is too confusing because of having two different services (one on the website and one on Facebook), or if the donor button is not adding value, we can remove it at any time.
- We will send a note out to everyone once the button is operational.
Now we need your help in spreading the word via Facebook, connecting your friends and businesses to stories, photos and comments about the Texas Ramp Project and the wonderful work we do for our neighbors.
Link to TRP's Facebook page
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When Is a Ramp Not a Ramp? In Fredericksburg.
This ramp presented a unique challenge, because there was only one step involved. Ms. J. needed to have something to allow her to get safely from her house to her car. The existing sidewalk was too narrow and ended on a dirt surface, too far from the driveway. The idea of a "board walk" seemed to be the perfect solution.The treated plywood surface was supported with concrete blocks, and treated 2x4 lumber minimized direct contact with the dirt. The arrangement provided a smooth 48-inch-wide path for the wheelchair. Two-inch edging was added after the photos were taken. The ramp has also been painted, which will help preserve it. The unique ramp was built by members of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, Kerrville volunteers and family members.
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Ms. J. almost races up and down the boardwalk, enjoying her new freedom. She was even able to make a 180 degree turn on the walkway. | | |
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Volunteers and family gather to celebrate the new non-ramp.
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SalesForce Data Base Upgrades
In our attempt to upgrade our technology platform and make it easier to do business, the technology team has implemented an upgrade of the Forms Assembly application. This application is used by our healthcare providers to create ramp referrals in the Salesforce database from the TRP website.
There are three main benefits to this upgrade:
1. Incoming data will be cleansed to a standard address format, which will eliminate address anomalies such as “Street” or “St.” in an address.
2. Agencies creating referrals will benefit by having address “auto-complete and pre-fill” capabilities. This should eliminate having the wrong county being populated and provide a better customer experience.
3. As new referrals are entered, the application will check Salesforce for a duplicate referral entry and eliminate the creation of a new referral unless it is to refurbish an existing ramp.
We hope you will see these improvements as a positive step forward in eliminating confusion and improving our referral process.
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Ramp of the Month: El Paso Region
El Paso County
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Ms. V., 87, has difficulty walking and needs assistance. Her home had a ramp, but it was in extreme disrepair. Every time she used it, she was at risk of falling. The new 40-foot ramp took 28 volunteers 160 hours of labor to build. The referral for Maria’s ramp came from Bienvivir. | |
Does this picture look familiar? It should, as its on the landing page for our website. | |
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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.
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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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