Buzzards Bay Area Habitat for Humanity (BBAHFH) is seeking metal wheelchair ramp donations and support for their Ramp Donation Program. According to Executive Director Christine Lacourse, “We have currently helped 26 families with ramps this year with the community’s support. We have three more families that need our help before the end of the year, but we are out of inventory. We need to raise $10,000 to buy 3 (or more) used ramps for Joanne, Nancy, and Lorraine, so that we can help change their world, and we are hoping for strong year-end support. Imagine, each tax-deductible gift will give someone the ability to stay or return home for the holidays.”
“There are many reasons why someone might need a ramp, from a simple broken leg to a chronic disease like multiple sclerosis to cancer,” explained Lacourse. “Many of our ramp recipients have been healthy all their lives but now in their senior years, need a walker or are in a wheelchair. What a difference a ramp makes for an individual and their family. It literally gives someone freedom, independence, and the ability to Age-in-Place.”
Ramp recipients have ranged in age from teenagers to those in their nineties. As one recipient’s daughter enthused after her mother in her eighties got a ramp, “We are absolutely thrilled…. The ramp was installed today and my mother had a doctor’s appointment at 2:30 and she did not have to hold on for dear life going down the stairs, while 10 out of 10 pain went down her hip. She just used her cane and held the railing and smoothly went down the ramp. And my Dad’s hip is not in excruciating pain from going down and up the stairs. And the men who came and installed it were wonderful.”
According to Janice, another recent ramp recipient who is 86 years old, “It made me feel alive. Really and truly. I don’t have to lift my legs that I can’t lift. I used to have to cling to the rail to get up, then lift my legs three times because I had three big steps, and now I can run up it. A flock of angels put it up. All gentlemen and very nice.”
In 2024, BBAHFH formally introduced the Ramp Donation program giving low-income homeowners the accessibility they need to remain safe in their homes. Through ramp donations and purchases, BBAHFH tries to maintain an inventory available that can be loaned out and installed by volunteers when needed by a family, but this can be difficult as ramps are expensive, and the need is great. BBAHFH is grateful for its partners, including the families who have donated ramps to be reused, supporting foundations in the region, and Oakley Home Access for making ramps available on a discounted basis.
When a family no longer requires the ramp, it is picked up by BBAHFH and then loaned to another low-income family in need. The Ramp Donation program helps those with existing accessibility issues, temporary injuries, or those who are checking out of a rehabilitation facility with hopes of returning home.
BBAHFH is running this program throughout Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Marion, Mattapoisett, New Bedford, Rochester, Wareham, and Westport, and ramps are installed at no cost for families. This project is funded in part by grants from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the Executive Office of Aging & Independence and Coastline Elderly Services, the Area Agency on Aging, through Federal Title-III funds.
For more information on BBAHFH’s Ramp Donation program, contact BuzzardsBayAreaHabitat@yahoo.com, or call 508-758-4517. Tax-deductible donations to support the program may be made at www.BuzzardsBayHabitat.org or by sending a check to BBAHFH, P.O. Box 1584, Mattapoisett, MA 02739, and please note “Ramps for the Holidays.”