Eye Candy of the Week: Wheelchair ramp at 615 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Lansing

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Wheelchair ramp at 

615 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Lansing

Festooned with greenery and smelling of fresh pine, the wheelchair ramp on the north side of 615 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. is a cheerful sight and a possible life saver for the resident, a 90-year-old veteran who had developed health issues and become prone to falling in recent months. 

With the coming of winter, the man’s family was worried he would take a serious fall on the porch steps, so they called the Tuesday Toolmen, a band of itinerant sawhorse samurai affiliated with the Capital Area Housing Partnership. 

Since 2010, the Tuesday Toolmen have built about 300 handicap accessible ramps in the Lansing area, along with many handrails, grab bars and miscellaneous indoor projects. On a typical Tuesday, about 25 volunteers show up at 9 a.m. and get down to work. By 4 p.m., the ramp is ready to use and the crew is already on its way to DeLuca’s Pizza. 

For the volunteers, it’s a fun and rewarding project, and not because of the pizza. 

 “It makes a huge difference in people’s lives,” program coordinator Brady Calkins said. Last week, the Toolmen had a grand day building a ramp for a disabled child. 

“His mom had been carrying him up and down the steps,” Calkins said. “At the end of the day, the guys got to see this 9-year-old kid use the ramp, and that’s what makes the program worthwhile.” 

Call (517) 332-4663 if you know of someone who could use some help from the Toolmen.

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