Sororities and fraternities nationwide recently enjoyed the action-packed annual event: Rush Week. As nearly all event planners have discovered, there was an issue they hadn’t considered: With a lack of wheelchair ramps, how would prospective members who use wheelchairs get access to the older houses, the heart of Greek Life.
With just weeks to prepare, several sororities at the University of Georgia and Florida State University rushed to find a wheelchair ramp solution that would bring the houses into compliance so recruits could participate.
“It was a good challenge for us to use our problem-solving skills,” said Delta Zeta’s Vice President of Membership Kaley Meier, a junior at the University of Georgia.
“It was a new experience for us, and we didn’t know what we needed,” Meier said. “But I called Dwight Medders at Amramp, and he came out the next day. He really did a lot to make a busy time much less stressful.”
“Our 60-year-old house had three steps that needed to be overcome,” Meier said. “Plus a threshold that I became concerned about. We really wanted to make this time enjoyable for everyone. With a four-story building and 20-minute tours, we decided to assemble a PowerPoint presentation to show other parts of the house in addition to seeing the first floor firsthand.”
Meanwhile, Florida State’s Greek organizations needed 12 wheelchair ramps installed at five houses, both indoor and outdoor ramps.
“In one case, a mother called because her daughter had been in an accident and was using a wheelchair temporarily,” said Scott Greene Jr. of Amramp in Northern Florida.
Although each modular wheelchair ramp was only rented for one week, the students had to factor the unexpected cost into their activity budgets.
“I was impressed with their resourcefulness by finding additional funding sources,” said Greene, Amramp’s Northern Florida owner, also noting their creativity: “One of the houses rented table skirting to hang outside the rails of the wheelchair ramp; others decorated the steel wheelchair ramps with draping and special signs for the event.”
Along with institutions like university campuses, many private residences and organizations face similar challenges posed by structures built before the Americans With Disabilities Act. Amramp’s locally owned establishments help organizers provide wheelchair ramps in order to make special events such as Rush Week compliant and enjoyable for everyone.
After installing 12 steel wheelchair ramps in a day and a half at Florida State, Greene said: “We like to be proactive and help fix these problems, so they simply become non-issues.”
Here at Amramp, we offer a fast, easy and safe solution to improve people’s lives. Amramp is a national organization with local, factory-trained professionals and with local inventory located throughout the country. To learn more about Amramp’s modular steel wheelchair ramp system, please fill out the form to the left or call us toll-free at 888-715-7598.
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