Sometimes we do not realize how much we take for granted by simply having the ability to walk down the steps, get into our cars, and drive to the hospital or the doctor’s office to receive medical care. For many living in poverty, this is a major barrier to accessing healthcare, and for the mobility impaired living in poverty, it is especially difficult for them and for the family members or friends trying to help them.

EmmanuWheel sets itself in Lexington, South Carolina and is the only organization in the state that strives to build one wheelchair ramp every week in the tri-county area of Lexington, Richland, and Saluda. In service to its mission and woven within its foundational Christian faith in practice, EmmanuWheel relies on volunteers and a small staff to fund, build, and provide wheelchair ramps for those who cannot afford them, with the intention of making a lasting improvement within their lives. Clients include those who are mobility impaired due to accidents, illness, or other degenerative diseases and are referred to EmmanuWheel through social service, hospitals, primary care offices, rehab facilities, churches, and other community organizations.

Operationally, the managing director, Chris Sharpe, is directly involved with the fifteen (15) ramp building teams and provides training and oversight directly on the sites. In addition, he works to forge relationships with other organizations to partner in building ramps and engages in mentoring volunteers with local schools and businesses.

Recently, CCME Foundation Executive Director Steven Martin visited a wheelchair ramp site in Lexington and was able to meet with Mr. Sharpe and Donna Groomes, EmmanuWheel’s Fundraising Director. In 2021, the CCME Foundation provided nominal grant funds for EmmanuWheel to purchase lumber for four ramps. Because construction costs have risen dramatically over the past two years and because of the tremendously impactful work the organization and its volunteers are doing, the CCME Foundation decided to award a second nominal grant in 2022-2023 to assist EmmanuWheel in building more ramps in service to those who need them.

To learn more about this small but tremendously impactful organization, visit their website at www.EmmanuWheel.org.