My church recently created a ministry to help make homes safer for elderly people who were disabled or just had trouble getting around. Many of these individuals have resided in the same houses for many decades. Their homes met their needs just fine when the homeowners were younger. But these aging residents now suffer from decreased mobility and need assistance making their homes safe and accessible.

I am pretty handy with a hammer and nails and wanted to join this ministry in its work. The first job I helped work on was a deck reconstruction for one of the church’s elderly women. The deck she had was rotten and the steps were extremely steep. Her family was scared that she would fall attempting to descend the stairs, and they wanted a ramp and new deck constructed for her.

Before we began the construction work, we had to determine what material to use to construct the new deck and ramp. I suggested using Rhino Deck products because that is the kind of decking material we used at our home. This decking is made of a composite wood material that requires only minimal upkeep.

Everyone in the ministry team agreed that using the Rhino Deck product was best. After all, we didn’t want the elderly lady to hurt herself trying to repaint or restain her deck in a couple of years. We also wanted to ensure the deck would stay solid so she would be less likely to fall.

The woman who was getting the new deck was thrilled to see us arriving when we drove up to her home one pretty Saturday morning. She was so happy that she would no longer be confined to her home and unable to easily descend her deck stairs.

Constructing the deck took us just one day to complete since so many ministry volunteers volunteered. The homeowner was beyond thrilled when we revealed her new deck to her. Her family was also relieved to know that their mom and grandmother was no longer in danger of falling every time she left her home.

This project meant a lot to me since I had lost my own grandmother the previous year. In fact, I made a point to begin visiting this elderly lady to make sure she was doing okay.

During one of my most recent visits, she was sitting on her back deck enjoying a pleasant spring day. She told me that she was very happy with her new deck and that it had essentially given her a new lease on life. I was happy too that I was part of making this sweet woman’s life just a little bit better.