Challenger's Club Community Project

Three ramp projects were undertaken by volunteer workers from the local AARP chapter and the NMSU sanctioned Challenger Club whose membership is composed of RASEM² students. The Ability Center of Las Cruces, an independent living center for people with disabilities, provided funding (approximately $1,200) through funds made available through the New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The Ability Center also provided the names of clients requesting the work.

Engineering students from the Challengers Club surveyed the sites, designed the projects according to ADA guidelines, estimated material needs, ordered the materials, and supplied the tools and labor. The project was ongoing beginning April 2000 and the final project completed on October 21, 2000. The three ramp projects were located in Las Cruces at the residences of

• Ms. Irene Lopez (Elks Club Drive)
• Mr. Jesus Saenz (Las Cruces Mobil Home Park),
• Mr. and Mrs. Teodoro Gonzales (Lohman and Espina)

The project brought together members of the community, staff from the service provider agencies, students with disabilities with carpentry skills, and of course, the people requesting the work. Awareness of the need that people with disabilities have for various accommodations was made apparent and met by the work of the engineering students participating in the project of which there were seven. Three members of the RASEM 2 staff, two from AARP and four community members not associated with AARP, Challengers, or the Ability Center also Sparticipated.

The entire project was a lesson in organization - volunteers and tools were determined, plans were drafted based on site inspections and ADA guidelines, funds were allocated based on those plans, materials and supplies were ordered, and construction schedules were set in place. Participants also practiced skills, albeit on a basic level, but nonetheless developed to a proficient level when graduating RASEM² students enter the workforce as professional engineers.

The project also set a precedent in that community agencies normally not associated with working with college students with disabilities joined with them to complete the projects. As a result, the participants have initiated plans for another ramp building project in the spring semester of 2001. In addition, the project also makes the Challengers Club eligible for funds from the Associated Students of NMSU for projects the Challengers would like to conduct on their own.

One other notable outcome of the projects involves one of the beneficiaries who is married and has two children. His request was for a set of stairs with unusual riser height because he has difficulty lifting his legs high enough to negotiate the normal seven or eight inch height of stair risers. This presented construction difficulties for the volunteers. But Mr. Saenz, who, previous to his disability, was a Master carpenter, redesigned the stairs to accommodate the special riser height. With the help of friends and relatives, since Mr. Saenz cannot physically do the work himself, completed the project. On the final project, Mr. Saenz was asked to volunteer his expertise as a Master Carpenter and to supervise the project. He agreed, and as a result, the project was successfully completed. Not only did the success of the project spur Mr. Saenz, who speaks only Spanish, to complete his studies in English, but also roused in him the potential of enrolling in school to major in engineering. Currently, RASEM² is helping Mr. Saenz investigate the possibility.