This year, the nonprofit Texas Ramp Project (TRP) will note its 40th year of providing free wheelchair ramps for more than 30,000 recipients across the state.
The 40th anniversary is a milestone in the nonprofit’s commitment to helping seniors, adults and kids with disabilities regain mobility.
Local volunteers gather across the state on a weekday or Saturday morning to build a ramp for a neighbor.
These volunteers spend a few hours building the ramp and then have the joy of meeting the client and watching them test out their ramp for the first time.
According to local TRP volunteer Lynn Patterson, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30, volunteers will be building one or more Anniversary Ramps in this area.
“We are jumping the gun a little and plan to build ours on Friday, Sept. 19,” said Patterson.
“We will be at home in Paris to build a ramp designed to provide safe access for a local low-income older adult or person with a mobility issue.”
The Texas Ramp Project started in 1985 in Dallas and began operations across the state in 2006. TRP now provides ramps in 145 Texas counties, recruiting upwards of 3,000 volunteers to provide the labor.
In 2024 volunteers built more than 2,700 ramps and will exceed that number in 2025.
Every ramp provides safety, independence and an improved quality of life for its recipient, caregivers and family. Most ramps cost less than $1,000 to build, which is about one-third that of a typical contractor installation.
The ramps are always free to clients.
For more information, visit www.texasramps.org.
Special to The Paris News