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KC NARI Service Project Builds Hope For Navy Veteran & Family

KC NARI Service Project Builds Hope for Navy Veteran & Family

NARI Gives Back

Annual Service Project Builds Hope

for Navy Veteran & Family

 

Each year Kansas City NARI completes a community service project to honor and give back to the community where we live and work.  This year we partnered with Kansas City Heroes – a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities, senior citizens, the houseless, veterans, and single-parent homes by providing acts of kindness.

 

Meet the Rhodes Family

Kansas City Heroes connected us with the Rhodes family. Tom Rhodes is a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam.  He and his wife, Charlotte, care for their grown son Michael, who uses a wheelchair. The family needed repairs done to the wheelchair ramp at the entrance of their home. Wheelchair ramps are crucial so that in the case of emergency individuals with mobility impairments are able to exit the home quickly and safely.

 

A Costly Fix

Unfortunately, wheelchair ramp repairs are expensive and often cost-prohibitive for those who need them the most. According to Home Advisor, the average cost to repair a handicap ramp is $937, though the price can vary anywhere from $150 to over $2,000 depending on the severity of the damage and repair needed. Most homeowners pay between $581 and $1,608 to have their ramp fixed.

For a homeowner who is confined to a wheelchair, a wheelchair ramp is an important addition to the home. Keeping the ramp in working condition is easy as long as repairs are done in a timely manner. At times, this may mean hiring a contractor to perform general maintenance.

 

NARI Steps-Up  

In mid-July, several employees from KC NARI member Shack Built donated their time and expertise to make the necessary repairs to the wheelchair ramp for the Rhodes family. Additionally, NARI Member Forest Products Supply Co., donated materials and we purchased other materials through cash donations from a variety of other NARI members.

Future Fixes

NARI’s work here is not done! In the near future we will complete additional bathroom repair work, but we’ll wait until the pandemic allows us to work comfortably in their home.  For now, NARI is thankful that we were able to assist the Rhodes family and save them hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.

 

If you’d like to learn more about Kansas City Heroes or donate to their cause, please visit their website.