Six homes benefit from volunteers’ efforts

Heather Woodward
The Olympian
 

Stephen Meyers knows it might not be long before his wife needs to use a wheelchair.

Sharon Meyers, 56, was diagnosed with lung cancer late last year. The disease has taken a toll, sometimes making it tough for the Thurston County resident to walk without getting winded.

That’s why a wheelchair ramp built onto the couple’s home Saturday by volunteers working with Rebuilding Together Thurston County means so much, said Stephen Meyers, 58.

“This will make it so she can get in and out,” he said. “Getting out and getting to treatments is a lifesaver. ... This’ll get her going, and she likes to get out and do gardening.”

Almost 100 local volunteers teamed up to repair six homes this weekend as part of National Rebuilding Day. The annual event got started through the Washington, D.C.-based Rebuilding Together nonprofit organization, which has chapters across the nation, including one in Thurston County.

A panel selected by the local chapter’s board of directors chooses the homes that are repaired. Homeowners typically are low-income and often elderly or disabled as well — people who probably couldn’t accomplish or pay for repairs on their own.

“We keep people in their homes,” said Larry Hill, Rebuilding Together’s communications director, who helped at the Meyers’ home.

The effort relies on businesses to donate the materials and on contractors to volunteer their time and expertise.

Carpenter Matthew Howell, of Olympia’s Network Contracting Inc., spent about six hours building the wheelchair ramp.

“I get to play, and I get to help people,” Howell said, describing why he enjoyed donating his time. “It’s a win-win for me.”

In addition to the ramp, volunteers replaced rotting boards on the backyard deck, mowed the lawn and worked in the garden.

It’s work Stephen Meyers said he has less time to do because he’s caring for his wife. He said building the ramp was too complicated and expensive for him right now.

“I don’t get out here as much as I’d like to,” Stephen Meyers said. “They’ve done in one day what it would take me two months to do.”

Heather Woodward writes for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-4225 or hwoodward@theolympian.com.