JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Kevin Combs has been struggling since he had a stroke eight months ago at his Westside Jacksonville home.
When he described his plight to News4JAX, he couldn’t hold back his tears.
“Since August, I’ve been like this. Can’t walk, can’t use my arm, can’t make myself a sandwich, can’t do anything for myself, can’t do my laundry, can’t wash my dishes,” Combs said, crying. “I’m sorry. I’ve been holding all this emotion in.”
But things are turning around for Combs, and he is relieved beyond words.
He watched as workers with Builders Care restored his hope by building him a ramp outside his front door.
Until the ramp was installed, Combs’ roommate had to carry him down the stairs.
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Combs said he feels liberated.
“(I want to) get down the ramp and get out to the street, some kind of freedom, because I would be stuck here without somebody helping me,” Combs said.
Builders Care is a nonprofit organization that has been installing ramps in Northeast Florida for more than two decades.
In just the last two years, Builders Care has built 133 ramps in Northeast Florida, providing affordable to no cost construction services to the elderly, disabled, or low-income homeowners.
Homeowners like Kelton Andrews, who hadn’t been able to leave his home for more than a year without an ambulance team carrying him on a gurney to take him to his doctor’s appointments.
Builders Care also helps rebuild roofs. It has built 24 since 2023, changing people’s lives at a time when many people need it the most.