Cheap dubs no wheelchair ramp for sister

DannyHaszard

[the watchtower PR people are asleep at the switch allowing this to get on the news without their crafted embellishments]

A ramp could expand world
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - 7 minutes ago (see Danny is ever vigilent)
... It is so difficult for her to leave home that often, when her fellow Jehovah's Witnesses meet at a nearby Kingdom Hall, she can only listen in on the phone. ...

Victoria Rice used to love to go camping and hiking. She used to visit festivals and antique markets, and took her younger sister on long walks to explore Rapid Run Creek in Delhi Township. "I was very, very, very active," she said. Today, her life is defined by pain. "My sister used to call and say, 'We're going to the Sauerkraut Festival, you want to come with us?' "Now, they don't even ask,'' she said. "They know it's just too hard for me. "To me, a good day means I am able to sit. A bad day means sitting is not an option. I'm going to be lying down." The 57-year-old former IRS office worker lives with a variety of painful, progressive ailments, including degenerative joint disease, scoliosis and advanced arthritis. Since 1999, her condition has been so severe she cannot stand for more than a few minutes at a time. It is so difficult for her to leave home that often, when her fellow Jehovah's Witnesses meet at a nearby Kingdom Hall, she can only listen in on the phone. "Sometimes I feel isolated," she said. "I feel cut off from my family and friends." At home, she uses a power chair to get around the house, use her computer and care for her pets, a Corgi mix called Ginger and a recently acquired cat named Chelsea. "With this (chair), I can do things," she said. If her Price Hill home had a ramp, she could do even more. "A ramp would help me get out of the house and into my neighborhood," she said. "I could walk the dog. I could go to the grocery store for little items. I have friends with vans that can hold (the chair), so I could go places with them. "I would be able to be active again, to feel human again." E-mail [email protected]



	The Enquirer/Gary Landers
Victoria Rice of Price Hill holds her cat Chelsea on the back porch of her home. She hopes to get a ramp built for her wheelchair.

----------- Do a google search of "Jehovah's Witnesses charity: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Jehovah%27s+Witnesses+charity&btnG=Google+Search google don't lie

DannyHaszard

I am a carpenter by trade,building that ramp with the already existing sub-stairs would be easy

twinkletoes

I feel so sorry for this person, but unfortunately this is nothing new. Here in Hereford UK, we had the same problem with the KH. The congregation bought this property and refurbished it from "scratch", they chose to have the main hall upstairs, and although they promised that they would provide access for disabled ones, they never did (OVER 11 YEARS TO DO THIS). We personally knew of ones that were unable to climb the stairs and had to sit in the foyer downstairs watching the service on as black and white TV. Usually sitting alone, as the presiding overseer was not happy about others sitting in the foyer. This room - was a open access to the toilets and door to the outside, therefore in the winter time it was extremely cold and uncomfortable for the disabled (some in wheelchairs). Some of us set-up a fund for a "Chair-lift" but in their (Elders) wisdom, and I believe also against charity laws (re:Restricted Funds rules), they chose to rename the fund to a "special needs fund" thereby turning what should have been a restricted fund for a wheelchair into a general fund to spend where ever they decided.

As you have so rightly pointed out, it wouldn't take much effort to build a ramp for the disabled lady at her home, especially if this would enable her to get to meetings, surely this is what christianity is all about. I can't imagine Jesus ignoring her plight.

One good thing may come out of her not being able to get to meetings - especially as it appears she uses a computer, perhaps she could look at this forum and find out for herself just what a mind-controlling cult they really are.

Twinkletoes

under74

geez...you'd think word would've got out to her congregation before the article was published and they would have built it to save face. I bet anything some worldly people will build it for her now.

Finally-Free

In my last hall there were 7 disabled people who regularly tied in by phone. There were others on a "waiting list" to listen in, because the system could not accomodate more. The 2 other congregations that shared the hall had disabled people too. All these congregations had many elderly people. The hall underwent a major renovation, and making it wheelchair accessible was part of the plan. All of the money for the renovation was donated by the publishers™ - none was borrowed from the society. The disabled people, who could never access the hall, were among the largest contributors. Yet the society's regional building committee, after everyone donated the money, decided they would not make the hall wheelchair accessible.

But at the last minute they decided to build the elders an additional meeting room downstairs.

W

sf

Good grief. This is so beyond ridiculous.

How hard is it to build a damn ramp?

sKally

LDH

Someone should sue for equal access, i.e., Americans with Disabilities Act.

Does anyone know if you are allowed to sue a church?

Aude_Sapere

I bet anything some worldly people will build it for her now.

Maybe a good op to anti-witness. Exjw's helping Active jw's where the congregations fail them.

Then again, they may just think we were futiling trying to re-gain some measure of Jehovah's favor...

-Aude.

misspeaches

I agree... Can't you sue building owners who don't make it wheelchair accessible. The WTBTS claims that the Sunday meetings are for the public. Wouldn't this therefore mean that it should be ACCESSIBLE to all members of the public regardless of their mobility.

Perhaps Lady Lee can enlighten us...

Billygoat

I'm NOT a carpenter by trade and I could do this! It is ridiculous that the brothers and sisters in her hall cannot pull together $100 for scrap wood and a few hours on a Sunday afternoon to build this.

Cheap dubs no wheelchair ramp for sister

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