A wheelchair ramp may not be the kind of home improvement most people dream about, but for someone waiting to be discharged from a hospital or rehab facility, it can mean everything. Without safe access, patients can’t go home. With a ramp, they can return to family, community—and to life.
Christine Lacourse, executive director of Buzzards Bay Habitat for Humanity, has seen how powerful that difference can be. “We were getting requests for ramps…where they needed it right away,” she said. “They needed their mother or father to be coming out of the nursing home or rehab or hospital, … and they couldn’t leave until that happened.”
Buzzards Bay HFH already had a ramp program, but it focused on building permanent wooden structures, a process too slow for urgent needs. For a time, Lacourse referred families elsewhere, suggesting they look into portable ramps or online options.
Then a series of coincidences changed everything.
The Plymouth Habitat had a donated metal ramp they didn’t need immediately, while a Dartmouth woman was desperate for one. Buzzards Bay HFH borrowed the ramp, installed it, and transformed the woman’s final months.
“(She) was able to live her last three or four months being able to get out of her house again. Her favorite thing was going for ice cream, so she was able to go out and get ice cream, which is just wonderful,” Lacourse recalled.
It sounds simple, Lacourse suggested, but it can mean everything to people.
Not long after, a retired teacher offered a ramp donation. HFH stored it in an unused box truck, but it didn’t stay there long. Within a week, another family needed it, and the “recycling ramps” model was born.
“We were able to go out there within a week and get the ramp installed for the family,” Lacourse said. “And we realized this works, that this model works and there’s such a great need for it.”
Since then, the program has taken off. In 2024, Buzzards Bay HFH installed eight ramps. By midsummer, they had already doubled that number, with ramp number 17 scheduled for a home in Mattapoisett.
The program has become part of HFH’s Brush with Kindness initiative, which tackles smaller but meaningful projects like exterior painting, home modifications, and ramp repairs. Each ramp is designed to be removed when no longer needed, then refurbished and installed for another family.
That reuse is key, Lacourse said.
Often the ramp is returned when the primary user has passed, she said. As sad as that is, she’s happy knowing the person spent their last months able to get out of the house and finds comfort knowing the ramp will help another family almost immediately.
The ramps make an enormous difference for people who might otherwise remain isolated or unsafe at home. Lacourse has heard countless stories: a woman in her 60s who hadn’t left her home in two years; another who relied on a shower chair to climb stairs; families who could only get a loved one to medical appointments by calling an ambulance.
“Our goal is to keep families at home, safely, as long as possible,” she said.
Something as simple as a ramp makes that possible.
Without financial help, installing a metal ramp can be costly. A new 30-foot ramp purchased at market rate can run $8,000–$12,000. With discounts, Buzzards Bay HFH pays closer to $5,000, but the best deals often come from secondhand finds.
“We’ve purchased ramps online for as little as $1,000 or $1,500,” Lacourse explained. “And we’ve been fortunate to receive donations.”
Local partners, like Oakley Home Access, help stretch dollars further. The Inter-Church Council of Greater New Bedford, Coastline Elderly Services, and other community groups have also lent support. But Lacourse emphasizes that individual donations, of ramps, money, or time, make the program possible.
“Our volunteers get it done so quickly. It’s impressive and we couldn’t do it without them,” she said, adding that HFH can usually get a ramp installed within a week or two, sometimes faster.
ICCGNB Executive Minister David Lima said the Inter-Church Elderly Housing has been glad to help the ramp program.
“Their innovative use of aluminum ramps, that have either been donated or purchased used, has meant that they can be available and installed quickly,” he said. “As anyone who has personally needed one knows the cost can be overwhelming. With this loan program that is one last thing for a family to worry about.”
The program serves residents from Westport to Wareham, and ramps have already been installed in nearly every town within that range. People are also being referred
through local councils on aging, veterans’ offices, Southcoast Health, or by applying directly.
The application is simple, Lacourse said. “We’re just really looking to make sure they’re in our territory and that they are considered low income for the town that they live in, and what their need is, because we try to rate it by critical need.”
For donors, the process is just as straightforward. Buzzards Bay HFH welcomes used ramps in good condition, which they can store until the next call comes. Because ramps are reinstalled again and again, one donation can impact multiple families.
“The word is getting out,” said Lacourse.
People realize they don’t have to feel trapped in their homes anymore, she said. They don’t have to call an ambulance just to see their doctor.
A ramp changes everything.
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