The Texas Ramp Project is proud to announce the launching of our new website!
Find out all about Texas Ramp Project, request ramp referrals, find out where we build, discover volunteer opportunities, see photos and news stories of our volunteers in action and make donations to support Texas Ramp Project.
Going forward, all our posts and information updates will be on the new site. This site will only be maintained for archival purposes.
Texas Ramp Project: Over 10,000 Served
An elderly disabled man escapes his burning home on his new wheelchair ramp. A dialysis patient can finally leave her home without having to be carried down the steps. A stroke patient’s dangerously rotting ramp is removed and replaced with a new, safe one. A 7-year-old boy with cerebral palsy gets a ramp to accommodate his new special wheelchair.
These are but a few of thousands of stories connected to the Texas Ramp Project, a statewide nonprofit that builds free wheelchair ramps for elderly and disabled people who can’t afford them on their own. The ramps are built by local volunteers. Last year this modern-day barn raising provided free ramps for more than 1,500 people across the state. So far this year TRP volunteers have built over 1,000 more ramps, on almost any given day of the week.
The Texas Ramp Project grew out of the Dallas Ramp Project, established by the Richardson Kiwanis 30 years ago. In 2006 John Laine, then manager of the Dallas Project, expanded the Dallas model across the state. Since then local Ramp Projects have been established in 31 Texas regions serving 190 Texas counties.
During the week of October 10–17, the Texas Ramp Project will celebrate construction of its 10,000th ramp. This milestone is achieved by combining the totals of the Texas Ramp Project and the Dallas Ramp Project, now a part of the statewide organization.
Costs are kept low because the Texas Ramp Project is essentially a volunteer organization. Laine, who serves as executive director, recruits team leaders and volunteers from local churches, service clubs, student and alumni groups and businesses. He trains and equips the volunteers to build ADA-compliant ramps that are safe, strong and durable.
Laine also introduces the program to funding sources and the local health care community. Referrals come from health care providers, social workers and local agencies—286 a month in 2014 and over 300 a month in the current year.
TRP’s innovative business model of using volunteer labor has held the average cost of a ramp to about $600, less than a third the cost of a ramp built by a for-profit builder. The ramps have brought improved quality of life, independence and safety to the clients and eased the burden on their caregivers, often elderly spouses. Ramps also allow clients to remain in their homes. A $600 wheelchair ramp can save taxpayers up to $80,000 a year for maintaining that client in a nursing facility at public expense.
Texas Ramp Project: Fact Sheet
Year Established: 2006
Organization Address: P.O. Box 832065, Richardson, TX 75083-2065
Web Site: www.texasramps.org
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/TexasRamps
Local Organizations: 31 regions incorporating 190 counties
Ramps Built: 1,538 in 2014; over 1,000 to date in 2015
Revenues: $848,205 in 2014
Budget: $885,000 in 2015
Referrals: 3,433 in 2014; current rate of referrals is 300+ per month
Approximate Number of Volunteers: 3,000
Mission Statement: The Texas Ramp Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to establish regional wheelchair ramp-building programs across Texas. The regional Ramp Projects provide free wheelchair ramps to elderly and disabled clients in need identified by local health care professionals. Ramps are built without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, age or gender.
Vision Statement: Our vision is that no Texas resident shall lack safe access to and from his or her home because of financial limitations.
Executive Director: John Laine
Laine spent over 36 years in sales and management for industrial and aerospace products, including 20 years in his own business. A member of the Kiwanis Club of Richardson, he served as volunteer director of the Dallas Ramp Project from 1989 to 2005, when he left to found the Texas Ramp Project as a separate nonprofit serving all of Texas. He has been executive director since 2006. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from St. Lawrence University.
Texas Demographics
Nearly 2.9 million Texans—over one in 10—are age 65 or over, and 26.2% report a physical disability with ambulatory difficulty. Nearly 1.6 million Texans of all ages have a disability that may require a wheelchair or walker. With Texas’ poverty rate at 17.6%, it is likely that there are a large number of people who need safe access to their homes but lack the means to obtain it.
How to Get a Ramp
TRP does not accept direct referrals from clients or their families. Referrals must come from a third-party health care provider via the TRP website. The provider selects Client Referral Info on the home page and fills out the online referral form. The form is sent to the region coordinator. A trained surveyor will visit the client and design a ramp at the preferred entry/exit that is appropriate in length, slope and direction. Based upon the survey information, a volunteer construction crew led by a trained leader will then implement the design in about four to five hours.
Dear Supporter,
Thank you for being a part of the Texas Ramp Project community!
Each year generous supporters like you join us for the exciting annual North Texas Giving Day from 6 a.m. to midnight. Your generous support makes a meaningful difference to our core mission.
As you know, Texas Ramp Project is changing lives every day by providing ramps. On September 18th, North Texas Giving Day, your donation amount will help us receive extra funds for our work in the community. Every gift of $25 or more will go further with more than $1.5 million dollars in bonus funds and prizes! By visiting NorthTexasGivingDay.org, the online giving website for North Texas Giving Day, you can make a difference with your gift to Texas Ramp Project.
Here’s the really exciting part: Every gift made on September 18th helps our chances of winning prizes given throughout the day ranging from $500 to $10,000! With over 60 total prizes being awarded throughout the day.
All gifts you make to Texas Ramp Project on September 18th will increase our impact by allowing us to build more ramps in the community.
All donations must be made between 6AM and Midnight on
Thursday, September 18, 2014.
Make your gift on September 18th by visiting
https://www.northtexasgivingday.org/#npo/texas-ramp-project
With your help, we WILL reach our fundraising goal on North Texas Giving Day!
With thanks to each of you,
John Laine
Executive Director
Texas Ramp Project
Dear Friends,
The Texas Ramp Project is very pleased to announce that we are participating in the 24-hour giving festival Amplify Austin being held this Thursday & Friday, March 20-21, 2014. Your generous donations will be “amplified” by incentive matching dollars from the event sponsors. There are also chances to win one of 4 grand prizes or hourly “booster” prizes during the 24-hour period.
All donations must be made between
6PM Thursday, March 20, 2014 and 6PM Friday, March 21, 2014.
“Bonus Dollars”
Our long-term supporter, St. David’s Foundation, will match donations with 50 cents per dollar ($150,000 maxumum).
To make a donation go to the website at www.AmplifyATX.ILiveHereIGiveHere.org and select the Texas Ramp Project from the organizations listed. Suggested minimum donation is $25. Only donations made during the campaign event will be amplified.
Please join with our other partners in donating to help us serve more clients in need by providing safe access at their homes.
With thanks to each of you,
John Laine
Executive Director
Texas Ramp Project
The Texas Ramp Project invites volunteers ages 14 and up to participate in the 1st Annual San Antonio Ramp Blitz on October 19, sponsored by the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.
We hope to have a record-breaking day as we attempt to build 15 ramps for elderly and disabled citizens.
But we can’t do it alone – we need your help.
Help us ‘ramp it up’ by:
• Volunteering on October 19th to help build ramps.
• Encouraging your friends, family members, colleagues and classmates to join in too!
• Making a donation to the Texas Ramp Project.
• Sharing this webpage with your friends in social media. Show your support by using the #SARampBlitz hashtag!
For more information and to register to volunteer, email us at info@texasramps.org.
We look forward to seeing you on October 19 in San Antonio!
Kronkosky Foundation funds, channeled to the Ramp Project through the San Antonio Kiwanis, improve the quality of life for the elderly and those with disabilities by helping them to be healthy and productive members of the communities in which they live.
Dear Friends,
The Texas Ramp Project is very pleased to announce that we have been included in the 5th Annual North Texas Giving Day being held this Thursday, September 19th. A pool of $1.5 million will be divided among the participating non-profit organizations proportionally to the amount each organization is able to raise that day.
All donations must be made between 7AM and Midnight on
Thursday, September 19, 2013.
To make a donation you will need to go to the DonorBridge website at www.DonorBridgeTX.org and select the Texas Ramp Project from the organizations listed. Minimum donation is $25 and only donations made on 09-19-2013 will be multiplied.
Please join with our other partners in donating to help us serve more clients in need by providing safe access at their homes.
With thanks to each of you,
John Laine
Executive Director
Texas Ramp Project
Tune into Coffee Break LIVE at 8:30am Friday, March 1 to listen to an interview with John Laine, Texas Ramp Project Executive Director. The interview will also be available on demand after it airs.
The show airs on Perryton, Texas’ KEYE 1400 AM or KEYE 93.7 FM
Listen online at www.keye.net
OR via the station’s custom mobile apps: Android (FM) and Android (AM) / Apple iOS (Search for “93-7 MY FM” and “KEYEAM”)
The Texas Ramp Project 