Teen builders ramp up mission work

For the last several months, Mike Slattery has very nearly been a prisoner in his own home.

The former car salesman suffered a stroke in November that left him partially paralyzed on his left side. He has since regained some of the use of his limbs, but he still can't use his left arm or hand. He alternates between a walker and a wheelchair to get around his home in Kalispell.

Leaving the house is more challenging.

A temporary ramp has helped him navigate down the five steps out the front door, but getting back up the steep incline is out of the question. Once outside, Slattery is stuck until someone can help him back up the ramp.

He and his wife, Sharon, had hoped a solution might be near when Kalispell Regional Medical Center put them in touch with Regional Access Mobility Program of Montana in April. The Missoula-based nonprofit builds and installs ramps and other features, including grab bars and roll-in showers, for those who need greater accessibility in their homes.

They applied for a federal grant for a wheelchair ramp, Sharon Slattery said, but were rejected because their income was too high.

"We just dropped the whole process," she said. "There was no way we could incur $7,000 in debt to put in a ramp."

That would have been the end of the story if not for a group of teenagers from Minnesota. The senior-high youth group from Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley will arrive in Kalispell next week to build and install ramps for Slattery and nine other Flathead residents.

The youth group goes out of town on a mission trip every year. For the last two summers, 18-year-old Kristin Oney has painted houses in Lexington, N.C., and Savannah, Ga.

"We're trying to do something new this year, to inspire change," she said. "We're so used to the traditional trip we've been going on every year. It will be fun to see how the kids will react in different ways."

They decided on Kalispell, a 1,200-mile drive from their Minneapolis suburb, after calling the Glacier Presbytery, which supervises Presbyterian churches in Northwest Montana.

"They immediately hooked us up with a church in Kalispell," church youth director Sarah Bigwood said. "The Reverend Chad Jones (associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church) was so dynamic and welcoming, we knew we had found the right spot."

With the location nailed down, the group now needed a mission.

Jones told Bigwood he had recently learned that there were several people in the valley - senior citizens or people such as Slattery who had become disabled - who could benefit from having ramp installed at their houses.

Using U.S. Census data, Bigwood estimated that about 700 elderly people in Flathead County could probably use ramps. She figured the number would be higher if it took younger disabled people into account.

The need was clear, so the church asked a local ramp builder to teach them the basics before they left for Montana.

"He found out we were going to Kalispell and said, 'Oh, I know someone in Missoula,'" Bigwood said. "Within 20 minutes, Vernon Weiss [RAMP of Montana's program director] had already agreed to help us with the design and get us the help we need in Kalispell."

RAMP of Montana has been looking for an opportunity to expand into the Flathead, Weiss said. The youth group's mission - the aptly named Flathead Ramp Project - provides the perfect way to do that.

"It's exactly what we wanted to do," he said. "We will expand up in this area if we have the support of local citizens. We rely on volunteers to go out and help build the projects and everything."

The youth group - Oney, 10 high-school boys and six adult chaperones, including Bigwood - will arrive Friday in Kalispell. On Saturday, they and members of First Presbyterian's youth group will build 10 ramps in the First Presbyterian Church parking lot, and they'll install the ramps early the following week.

People have applied for ramps through RAMP of Montana and First Presbyterian Church. Others had no idea they were being considered.

"Last week, this guy Vernon Weiss from RAMP of Montana shows up on our doorstep and says, 'We're doing this ramp free of charge,'" Sharon Slattery said.

The free ramps are possible in part because the youth group has been raising money for the last several months. After raising $8,000 to cover the trip to Kalispell and back - with a few fun activities in between - the Minnesota teens focused on raising money for ramp materials.

"We've raised $3,500 to sponsor some ramps, and we're still trying to scrape up some more," Bigwood said.

First Presbyterian has helped raise money, too, and several local businesses have provided materials at cost, Jones said.

"When people in the community and businesses see you're doing a meaningful project benefiting the community, they're much more willing to help," he said.

"It's exciting for our kids and their kids to actually help someone out," he added. "To be able to get in and out of your home, it's a wonderful blessing."

Sharon Slattery agreed.

"I'm extremely grateful to this church that's doing it," she said. "It'll at least help Mike be able to get in and out of the house."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com