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Youth ramp up efforts to help veterans

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Daniel Daoust, with The Boys and Girls Club Youth Volunteer Corps, learns about building a wheelchair ramp from Bill Morrison, Habitat for Humanity Northeast Michigan construction manager, and Catherine Knoch, Youth Volunteer Corps director Thursday.

ALPENA — The Boys and Girls Club Youth Volunteer Corps and Habitat for Humanity Northeast Michigan have teamed up to provide elderly or disabled veterans easier access to their homes by building wheelchair ramps.

Habitat officials plan to build six or seven ramps this year, and members of the Youth Volunteer Corps decided this was a project they wanted to get involved in.

Youth Volunteer Corps Director Catherine Knoch said youth choose the projects they want to be involved with. She said they wrote a grant so they could help build ramps, and 10 to 12 youth volunteers can sign up to participate in the project each week.

Habitat for Humanity Construction Supervisor Bill Morrison measures and cuts the wood for the project while the youth focus on assembly of the ramp and its railing. The students learn basic carpentry skills like hammering and using a power drill.

“It’s important to have the youth develop work and life skills outside the classroom and give back to their community, to know what’s going on and be involved in the change that they want to see,” Knoch said. “This specific project they were really excited to be able to sponsor a couple of grants.”

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Emma Barz, with The Boys and Girls Club Youth Volunteer Corps, on Thursday builds a railing for a wheelchair ramp that Habitat for Humanity Northeast Michigan will install on a veteran’s home.

Youth Volunteer Corps member Emma Barz said she likes helping people out and said she is enjoying building the ramps.

“It’s really fun because you get to do stuff that you really never get to do, and plus, I really like woodworking stuff,” she said.

Youth Volunteer Corps member Daniel Daoust said he was excited to be part of the project and was eager to get experience and learn skills outside of what he would learn in school. He was also happy to be helping area veterans.

“They served our country. Why not do something back for them?” he said.

The Youth Volunteer Corps is partnering with Habitat to build the first few ramps, but other groups, such as the Alpena Lions Club, will partner with the agency to continue building ramps later this summer.

Once the ramps are made, Habitat will install them at the veteran’s home, Morrison said.. He said the ramps get installed when the homeowner is ready for them and when the appropriate permits are obtained.

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