SHEPHERD'S HELPERS LEND A HAND

(reprinted from summer 2009 issue of  The Gift , Newsletter of the Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation)

Imagine yourself living in a wheelchair all day long, in a house three feet off the ground with no way to get out of your home.  Just trying to leave your home to go to a doctor's appointment, pharmacy or grocery store could be a complicated task; and if your home caught on fire, it would be highly difficult for a loved one to help you escape.  The Shepherd's Helpers group from Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church helps to alleviate these fears by providing handicap ramps, steps, thresholds and handrails for individuals in need. 

Shepherd's Helpers with Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church just entered into their second year of funding through the Communitry Benefits Grants Program.  Shepherd's Helpers is a program manned with volunteers that assists seniors and individuals with physical challenges by building skilled carpentry projects such as handicap ramps and low-rise steps.

The projects built by Shepherd's Helpers improve individual's access to their homes, making it easier for them to come in and out; therefore improving their accessibility to attend doctor and dental appointments, make trips to the pharmacy and grocery store and ultimately improve their quality of life.  Larry Hagler, lead project coordinator for Shepherd's Helpers, shared "What a feeling to be told by one of our clients just how much it means to regain their independance! Those experiences are priceless."

Since its establishment, Shepherd's Helpers has built 36 handicap ramps and five sets of low-rise, easy-access steps serving those on dialysis, seniors with limited mobility, injured adults, a paraplegic child, and a child with a stroke.  Handrails have also been built for a number of those who are unsteady.  Appointments have already been made to construct four more ramps.

Project requests are submitted to Shepherd's Helpers by area churches, the Department of Social Services, Pitt County Council on Aging, and home health agencies.  Funding for the program comes from families, various community and civic groups, and local grants.  Funds raised are used to purchase materials (lumber, nails, tools, and related supplies).  The labor for the program is provided by volunteers from various professions within the church and throughout the community.

Over the past five years, funds raised by the group totaled $91,500, all of which has been used to purchase materials to build the ramps and steps.  The volunteer labor used to complete those projects has been estimated to be valued at $222,000. 

A family member of one of the ramp recipients stated, "Shepherd's Helpers has made my mother's life so much easier and mobile.  The ramp they built is great!  It used to take my mother about 15 minutes to get to the car, but now she is able to get in the car in just a few minutes, and her wheel chair doesn't get stuck in the dirt any more.  This ramp would not be possible without the funds from the (Pitt Memorial Hospital) Foundation and Jarvis Memorial's Shepherd's Helpers."