For our 189th client family, a wheelchair-accessible van means freedom for an otherwise home-bound young man. Karen and Sam live in rural Navasota. They adopted three boys with special needs who are now all in their twenties. One of their boys, Matthew, cannot get out go the house without a wheelchair-accessible ramp van. Unfortunately, the van they previously owned was 24 years old and no longer reliable at all. This meant Matthew couldn’t go anywhere, and the family as a whole struggled to access healthcare, church, and community. That’s when Karen’s Women of Faith group at Central Baptist Church in Bryan stepped up to nominate this deserving family to OnRamp. Her advocate wrote in our nomination form that “Karen is a shining light and an example of someone who loves and serves well. Her faith in God's ability and desire to meet their needs is strong. She has a calm assurance that God knows their needs and has confidence that He will meet those needs.”
Indeed, God did precisely that. Unbeknownst to Karen and Sam, six months ago a local family gifted to OnRamp a mechanized ramp van with only 20,000 miles on it! It was hardly even broken in. Christian Brothers Auto caught up all the maintenance and Discount Tire gave it a set of new shoes, and we joyously gathered at the Grimes County tax office to give Karen and Sam and their boys the gift of freedom.
Want to see exactly what this van means to this family? All three boys play baseball for a team called the Crusaders in a league of 80 participants on six teams. But when their van broke down, Matthew couldn’t play any longer because there was no way to get him to the ballpark. Not anymore! Thanks to the van, Matthew got to be at baseball that very day! As our lead volunteer on this case, Bettye, reported, “The van changed Matthew’s life; from being isolated to being a part of his community by attending church, social events and playing baseball.” For those with disabilities like Matthew, a reliable and accessible vehicle truly is life-changing.
Now for the bad news. Due to all our recent vehicle donations to clients, OnRamp has fallen below our “soft floor” - the amount in the bank that we have to be above in order to say "yes" to new clients. We can donate vehicles to those clients we've already accepted, and continue to service vehicles for all clients in our one-year of care, but we can't add new clients to the list despite all the excellent applicants in the pipeline. We would LOVE to see this change, but it does take either a greater steady stream of monthly giving or some large one-time or periodic gifts. If you are able to help, please visit our GIVE page, or if you know any person or business who could help, please send them our way by having them email blakej@onramptx.org. Thanks everyone!
