Michael J. Smith
AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison
United Way of Monroe County
734-242-1331, ext. 16
 
Joe Verkennes
Director of Marketing,
Monroe County Community College
(734) 384-4207

September 12, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS TO CONSTRUCT
BARRIER-FREE ACCESS RAMP FOR TEMPERANCE FAMILY

            TEMPERANCE, Mich. – On Saturday, approximately 15 volunteers will donate their time and talent to build a barrier-free ramp at no cost for a Monroe County family in critical need of access to and from their home.
            Construction will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the family’s home in Temperance.
            The ramp is being built through a program called Project Ramp – a cooperative effort of unions, businesses and many public and private human care service organizations to provide barrier-free access to physically challenged individuals in the Monroe County area who cannot afford them. 

            Saturday’s construction is made possible by Organized Labor’s Community Services/Community Action Liaison Program, in partnership with United Way of Monroe County, Monroe County Community College’s construction management technology faculty and students, the Department of Human Services and many businesses and health and human services providers.                                                                                                                                                          
            Project Ramp, which began in 1989, grew out of continuing concern in the community for the large population of senior citizens and physically challenged individuals living at or below the poverty level who continue to remain in their own homes. 

            “One of the most critical barriers to overcome for a person with a disability is the barrier to his or her home,” said Michael J. Smith, AFL-CIO community services liaison.  “For someone with a mobility impairment, just one step can be an impossible barrier.  A home can be a virtual prison if it is not designed for easy wheelchair access.”

            “It is community collaboration such as this that helps to make Monroe County a better place to live and raise your family,” said Michael D. Hoydic, executive director of the United Way of Monroe County.

            Dr. David Nixon, president of Monroe County Community College, added that the MCCC students who are participating from the college will learn some of life’s lessons on this project.  “They’ll learn how good it feels to use what you’ve learned in the classroom to help someone,” he said.  “It’s another way of ‘paying it forward’ – for a lifetime.”

            Since 1989, more than 110 ramps have been built.  The United Way of Monroe County, Michigan Department of Human Services, local units of government and various businesses throughout Monroe County shared in making the ramps available to those in need at no charge.

            Project Ramp is a continuing annual project that will help to insure barrier free access to all who need it.