Antonia Ramirez, 77, doesn’t have to worry about stumbling down her front porch steps thanks to two Lawrence businesses that just finished building her a handicap-accessible, wooden ramp for free.

The companies – Schmidt Builders Supply and Paul Davis Restoration of Greater Lawrence and Topeka – stepped up and answered a call for help from Independence Inc., a Lawrence organization that helps people with disabilities control their own lives.

Ramirez, who uses a cane or wheelchair, sought help in April through Independence Inc. and was put on a waiting list because of a lack of funding.

Bob Mikesic, assistant director of programs and advocacy coordinator for Independence Inc., said there hasn’t been enough state and local grant funds to help an ever-growing list of people with needs.

“The population is aging, people are living longer and they are staying in the community,” he said. “If their mobility is affected, sometimes structural changes (to the home) are needed.”

He said those structural changes include widening doorways, adding roll-in showers and installing grab bars by tubs and toilets, Mikesic said.

Independence Inc. is a regional administrator of the Kansas Accessibility Modification Program, which is funded by the Kansas Housing Resources Corp. in Topeka. KAMP applicants can be homeowners or renters. Independence Inc. receives applications from residents in Franklin, Jefferson, Miami and Douglas counties.

Mark Stoker, a project manager with Paul Davis Restoration, works Tuesday morning to build a handicap-accessible ramp with his co-workers outside the home of Antonia Ramirez, 77, in North Lawrence. The construction of the ramp for Ramirez was one of several Independence Inc. projects that lacked funding for completion. Paul Davis Restoration of Greater Lawrence and Topeka and Schmidt Builders Supply collaborated on the effort free of charge.

The organization applied for nearly $94,000 but was granted only $34,500, which it can access today – the start of KAMP’s fiscal funding year. That amount might meet the needs of half of the 20 applicants, and some of those applicants were left on the waiting list from last year, Mikesic said.

Independence Inc. also receives a Community Development Block Grant through the city of Lawrence. The grant pays for projects sought by applicants who rent their homes. The group received $21,410 in CDBG funds Aug. 1 and little is left, Mikesic said.

So far, the grant has helped six households and it’s possible that a seventh also might receive assistance, Mikesic said. That will leave four other applicants without help unless more funding or volunteers are found.

Ramirez and her daughter, Linda Benitez, initially approached Independence Inc. in April about the need for a ramp at the house Ramirez owns. The long wait for funding, the possibility there might not be enough to meet Ramirez’s needs, and the urgency of her plight led Mikesic to seek another alternative.

Mikesic called Paul Davis Restoration because he remembered that the business had donated labor and materials to build a handicap-accessible ramp for a veteran of the Iraq war. Paul Davis is a franchise company headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla.

Lawrence resident Antonia Ramirez, 77, who uses a wheelchair and a cane, was selected by Paul Davis Restoration as the beneficiary of a home-improvement initiative.

The local franchise agreed to take on the Ramirez job under the Paul Davis Restoring America program. It normally does one or two such projects a year, owner Jeff Goldman said. Schmidt Builders, 1861 E. 1450 Road, a company Paul Davis does business with, agreed to help.

Benitez and Ramirez were “just thrilled” when they were told a few weeks ago that the ramp would be built at no cost to them. Earlier, Benitez had sought estimates for the project and learned a ramp would cost at least $4,000.

“We couldn’t have done it on our own,” Benitez said.

Benitez and Ramirez said they were grateful for the assistance provided by Paul Davis and Schmidt. They said they hoped other businesses would step forward and volunteer assistance to others.

Unless more funding becomes available this year and in coming years, the needs of some applicants won’t be met, Mikesic said.

“We can definitely use more volunteers to do things that people can’t afford for themselves,” he said.