Do you like to work with your hands? Can you handle a saw or paintbrush? Good, you may be interested in this ministry that emerged a couple years ago and is now expanding to the west valley, check it out!

The Desert Southwest Conference United Methodist Men’s organization (UMM) has partnered with an organization in Indiana called SAWs (Servants at Work) which designs, fabricates, and installs (and funds) wheelchair ramps for needy residents.  

They have an active group in the East District and in the South District, particularly in The Fountains UMC and at Sierra Vista UMC. They have installed a few dozen wheelchair ramps. The ramps are designed via CAD by the parent organization in Indiana.  

David James, President of United Methodist Men, is looking for volunteers in the West District (and in Las Vegas and in Flagstaff and in Tucson) to become involved in this ministry.  

Volunteers do a site survey to meet the homeowner, to determine need, to assess the location and layout, and to make measurements and take photos. The measurements are used to design the ramp via CAD and the lumber requirements and cuts are determined. 

BTW – the Fountains UMC group has also started framing and building “Tiny Houses” which have been sent to the Navajo Nation! 

The DSW Conference SAWs group currently has requests for several (4?) ramps in the west valley and are scheduling site surveys. They have one request in Yuma and at least a couple in Avondale/Goodyear.  I hope to accompany their volunteers on at least one site survey to get a better idea of how they are done.  

So – – – to get to the point – – – I’m hoping to identify people from west valley congregations who might be interested in getting involved with this ministry.  

~Mike Eyer

If this sounds interesting to you, contact Pastor John and he will put you in touch with the right people.