Twenty years ago, Joe Will built his house with the expansive porch and log-covered exterior. His wife, Sue, filled the porch with rocking chairs for family and friends to relax. These days, Will can’t go up the four steps to the porch. He has what’s commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It’s a degenerative nerve disease. He has a wheelchair to get around in the house, but it’s difficult for his wife and family to get him up to the porch. Their problem has been solved now, thanks to an ARMY-sized project.
This week the United Methodist ARMY of high school students, a college student and a supervisor, have been at the Wills’ home building a wheelchair ramp. The students are turning their Christian love into sweat to help others. It’s become a tradition for the Methodists to spend time in the summer heat helping others. The ARMY stands for Action Reach-Out Mission by Youth.
Robert Coffman is supervising the group working at the Wills house on FM 1130. The projects “are nothing real hard like roofing,” he said. The youth stick to projects like painting and building wheelchair ramps for people needing a hand.
The group he’s with has five youth, including Texas A&M student Shay Hine, 20, who has become a veteran at the summer projects. Shae McMeans, 14, is the youngest of the group. It’s his first time. The others are Davis Drake, 18, Jacob Harris, 17, and the only girl with the crew, Peyton Harris, 17, who is not Jacob’s sister.
Will has been outside to meet the crew. Sue had to interpret for him because he can’t speak clearly any longer. The youth enjoyed meeting him. “I’ve never met anyone with ALS,” Jacob said. “I’m excited to be here and work on the wheelchair ramp for him.”
Sue Will said a social worker visited with them last year to see if they qualified for help. Joe Will retired from the City of Orange in the spring of 2013. Sue has been working with the city library for 20 years and retires on Thursday so she can stay home and help her husband. They didn’t qualify for social services, but the worker put them on a list for the U.M. ARMY. That was a year ago.
Sue said they had been using make-shift ramps for the wheelchair like using a ramp designed to get a riding mower on a trailer. The new ramp is designed to be used with the handicapped-accessible van the Wills are in the process of buying. The ramp starts at the carport so Sue can park and open the door for the wheelchair lift to meet the ramp.
“He’s excited about being able to move more,” she said. “It’s been hard for him to go places.” They won’t have the van in time for Thursday, but Joe is planning to be at the library Thursday afternoon from 2 to 4 for Sue’s retirement reception.
The students are from Methodist churches in Sugar Land, Alvin and a small church in Houston. They have been staying nights at the Port Arthur Methodist church. Coffman oversees their work with power tools and saws. Every morning they review safety. Peyton is on her second summer with the ARMY. Last year she didn’t do as much as she is this year. Wednesday morning, she was helping to line up and measure posts before setting them in concrete.
The temperature when they arrived was already near 90 and would reach 94 with the heat index past 100. Coffman said the Wills have a good place to work under the shade of a carport with nearby trees. But the work is hot and hard. For the teens, the work is worth the reward. “I love seeing the look on people’s faces when we finish,” Peyton said. “To see how happy they are, it pays off.”
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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