Home Repairs Ministries has been working with a local church on a grant request to fund some home accessibility projects.
That sprung out of a critical look at the ministry to define some opportunities in the community to increase the number of projects the ministry works on.
It also lines up nicely with some observed trends: 1) There is no shortage of community need for organizations that can help make people's homes accessible, but funds can be a little hard to come by.
2) The ministry's volunteers love to build wheelchair ramps.
Why? Because they get to turn a big pile of lumber into a critically needed structure in one day and get to see the results of their labor.
On top of that, the need and benefit is apparent and obvious.
As the research process for the grant unfolded, the potential for home accessibility as a greater outreach and missions opportunity was validated and made more apparent.
Want some statistics to back that statement up? According to the U.
S.
Census Bureau*, almost 19% of the civilian non-institutionalized population had a disability in 2010.
About 12.
6% had a severe disability.
Over twelve million people (over age six) are disabled to the point of needing personal assistance for everyday activities.
In aggregate, disabled people are the largest minority group in the country, coming in at around 56.
7 million.
38.
3 million have a severe disability.
As the population ages, these numbers should increase.
That means more homeowners who no longer having full access to their homes.
What does that look like? Imagine if, suddenly, you could no longer easily get out of your house or into your own bathroom.
What would you do if you lived alone and wanted to "age in place"? Or that it was difficult, or impossible, to get out of the house to take a stroll through the yard or do the everyday tasks we so readily take for granted? These scenarios will likely become increasingly prevalent.
So, what can people do about it? There are probably many ways to serve the disabled, but a home repair team in your church is one of the most obvious and beneficial.
And what a beautiful picture - the (formerly) spiritually disabled, redeemed by Christ, helping show the physically disabled the love and grace of God! And when you are not building wheelchair ramps and widening doors, you can also serve single mothers, widows and low-income homeowners in your church and community! *Statistics sourced from Census Bureau report "Americans with Disabilities: 2010 Household Economic Studies"