We are a non-profit construction group. Our goal is really simple. To provide freedom for people in chairs through wheelchair accessibility ramp. Life comes at us fast, and our world can be forever changed in a second. This need, one most of us had never considered, is now a necessity. Insurance rarely covers the cost of a ramp, and as children grow larger, parents aren’t able to haul them in and out of their homes like they used to.

A friend opened our eyes to this new world, and we are forever grateful. We have now been able to partner up with area businesses, Seer Outfitters, and many of you to install over 100 wheelchair ramps free of charge. Our hope is that in the coming years that number will continue to grow. And that we will get to continue to do this with you, so please, share with us others who may be in need. We would love your support, you can find a link to both help us locate potential families who are in need of a ramp, or help fund our next one in the bar to the left.

Parable:
One day while wandering, I came across three bricklayers. I asked the first bricklayer what he was doing.”Laying bricks” he told me.I asked the second what he was doing.“Making a brick wall,” he told me.I asked the third.“Building a cathedral” he explained. —-April 18th, 2006, Philadelphia.  I pulled into the parking lot of the Helping Hand Rescue Mission and saw 3 inner city children playing football.  I didn’t know if I was allowed to talk to them; it hadn’t been long since the grandmother cursed me out on my walk through the neighborhood when I introduced myself.The July before, our group of young suburban adults had come to this segregated part of Philadelphia to pray about starting a church somewhere else in the city.  We needed a place to meet to talk about living our faith and starting some kind of mercy ministry, and I was volunteering at the Mission, so we met on the front stairs.I wasn’t thinking about that at all, or our prayers for direction, as I ignored the curios stares of the children and yelled, “Throw me the ball.”A few spirals later and I saw kids coming from all directions; it was as if they had been waiting for us.  That game of catch morphed into a wild game of whiffle ball which became a swollen ministry that has jumped over the 6 year mark.
It has been a half decade of thrills and spills that we could not have asked for or imagined here at the Mission.  We are not here a project or a ministry; this has become a family where we want the best for our children. We run afterschool programs, kids’ church, a soccer academy, and take trips throughout the year.  Our young people grow up in rough circumstances, and we want to offer them every advantage, and to ensure that these are some of the best years of their lives.It has not always been a fun game of catch; we have had 2 neighborhood boys murdered, both unsolved, and worry that rough rides remain ahead for our at-risk youth.  If this was an easy area to work in, someone would have done it already.We do it under the Christian umbrella that reminds us to ‘love our neighbors’ as we extend to ‘love our neighborhood’.
As I look back on how it started, I think that it is fair to say our wonderful volunteers were laying bricks in those early months.  Currently, we have a remarkable program that is loved by the neighborhood, and it is clear that we have been constructing a wall.Perhaps in another 5 years, we will be able to see that we were really building a cathedral the whole time.