Family shares how receiving a wheelchair ramp changed their lives

Mississippi Heroes announced their Ramp It Up program in August. They have since completed nine ramps.

Mary Kippes tells us how life-changing these ramps can be.

“Most of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents… they’ve worked their whole life. They want to do. So let them have the freedom to do.”

Freedom is exactly what Mary Kippes’ father gained when they received a ramp from Mississippi heroes.

When her father came to live with her, he had just broken his leg.

“When he first came, he was in a wheelchair, very disoriented, many hospital bills, many hospital beds,” Kippes said. “And before we got the ramp, we were like… we can’t go anywhere.”

When they received their ramp, it was like the world opened up for them again.

Mary Kippes could give her father his life back.

“Literally couldn’t do it without the ramp,” Kippes said. “We are goers and doers and lots of doctor visits and lots of things to do in life. Life is for the living. Let your elderly parent live.”

“I have a safe egress to the house, and I use it,” said Kippes’ father. “It’s a ramp, it’s a tool. And it’s something that I need and require.”

These ramps can cost up to $6,000 just depending on the size. Mississippi Heroes is able to get funding through various fundraisers, but donations can help build more ramps.

“I’m that type of person who has a hard time saying let’s wait or no,” Katherine Sutton, Mississippi Heroes executive director, said. “So, we’re trying to build them as fast as we can, and honestly, the more help we can get from the community the more people we can help serve.”

You can visit their website at mississippiheroes.org.