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GooD DeeDs of Oak Ridge supports the independence of the elderly and/or disabled in and around Knoxville TN.
This article will appear in Issue #41 of
Breaking Ground
the publication of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities.
Miss Dodds was suffering from multiple illnesses that prohibited her from physically leaving her home. She had been confined to her home for over a year. She could still walk short distances but could not safely navigate her home’s steps without help. Her illness was degenerative in nature and prognosis for her physical ability to improve was not plausible. Miss Dodds did not want to move from her home and the prospects and cost of continued home care looked bleak.
She is a proud lady who has always taken care of herself and didn’t want
help.
She simply needed a way to exit her home to remain self reliant and
could not afford the cost associated with a wheel chair ramp.
She contacted multiple agencies for assistance and found a public
service organization called the disAbility Resource Center of Knoxville (DRC).
DRC had Miss Dodds fill out some paperwork verifying that she qualified
for public assistance funds and DRC contacted GooD DeeDs of Oak Ridge to
construct a wheel chair ramp at her residence.
GooD DeeDs went to Miss
Dodds home and made recommendations for constructing a wheel chair ramp.
Once the initial ramp was approved GooD DeeDs designed, estimated and
priced a material list. Once this was approved by DRC, GooD DeeDs
transported the building material to Miss Dodds home and began constructing
the wheel chair ramp. She wanted to combine her existing porch
with an accessible ramp and keep the existing steps. Construction involved
shoring up the porch and creating a separate exit point from her porch.
GooD DeeDs spent 28 hours constructing the ramp and Miss Dodds was quite
relieved when it was finally completed.
She can now leave her home to get her mail and to enjoy the sunshine. Miss Dodds can now remain in her home, has regained her independence and can again enjoy the simple pleasures of sun shine, a soft breeze and the enjoyment of talking to neighbors. She was quite pleased with her new ramp and my son’s and I enjoyed building it for her.