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Springfield veteran gets long-awaited wheelchair ramp

Springfield News-Sun - 5/30/2022

May 30—Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton recently provided a wheelchair ramp to a 79-year-old Springfield veteran.

Gerald Childs has been active throughout his life: he went from driving tanks in the Army to driving trucks for a living as a civilian to driving motorcycles as a hobby, according to a Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton press release.

In 2013, he began using a wheelchair when he could no longer walk on his own, and the veteran has been in need of a ramp for 22 years to get from his elevated porch down to his driveway, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton said.

His need was met earlier this month by Habitat for Humanity, which installed a new aluminum wheelchair ramp at his Springfield home earlier this month.

Providing ramps is an expansion of Habitat's growing services, which include helping low-income families become first-time homeowners and underserved senior homeowners make critical repairs on their homes that they'd otherwise be unable to afford, according to the organization.

"No doubt if you could see what we go through to get me in and out of here, you'd understand," said Childs in a press release. "The mobility it gives me is absolutely the best thing someone could do for me."

Childs was a staff sergeant and tank gunnery trainer at Fort Knox, Kent., during his six years of enlisted duty and also spent seven years on the reserves. He found the help he needed on Habitat's website, according to the release.

"I always thought Habitat was just about building homes," he said. "I saw things about (former President) Jimmy Carter helping build houses and that was it. But I thought, 'It can't hurt to ask.'"

Habitat Neighborhood Repair Specialist Galen Curry said that the organization has just started installing ramps.

"It's another way to allow folks to age in place. It gives them back their mobility," he said.

The installation of ramps also provides safety and security to people, Curry said. Ramps allow those who use wheelchairs a safe way to leave their homes on a daily basis and during emergency situations. Ramps also allow people the ability to live in the comfort of their own home

"It is a tremendous gift to give someone," he said.

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