Ramp Installation Program Restores Freedom for Seniors

AGING OUTLOOK | BY Kathryn Bursch, Outreach Manager, Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas
PUBLISHED Summer 2025

Imagine feeling trapped in your home. That’s how Elizabeth M. felt. The former paramedic had spent decades
helping others, but now, she needed help herself.

Back in the 1992, while responding to a roadway emergency, Elizabeth was hit by a car. Spinal cord injuries left her with mobility challenges. “I spent a long time in the hospital and in rehab. I was permanently disabled
and never able to really walk again,” recounts Elizabeth.

With the help of a rollator walker, Elizabeth could move about inside her home. But the six, steep steps outside her house were impossible for her to navigate, especially in more recent years when she’s had to use a wheelchair full-time.

That made everyday activities like running errands or simply getting out in the yard for some fresh air impossible. “I was completely trapped in the house,” she said. “It was horrible—absolutely horrible.”

However, funding from the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas helped change Elizabeth’s world for the better. In 2024, The Disability Achievement Center used an AAAPP grant to install a large modular ramp
to Elizabeth’s home.

The result has been truly life changing. Now, for the first time in years, Elizabeth can come and go freely.
The ramp has given the 62-year-old the ability to spend more time with her kids and grandchildren—something she cherishes.

“The ramp has taken me from feeling trapped to freedom!”

Helping Seniors stay in their homes safely is the mission of AAAPP. Sometimes that’s a simple ramp
to independence!