Newsletter

Volume 8, Issue 1

January 2026

Message from Mark Denzin

Texas Ramp Project Executive Director

Building on Momentum: Ramping Up for 2026

As we turn the calendar to January, I want to begin by thanking each of you for the extraordinary momentum you helped create last year. Because of your dedication, Texas Ramp Project continued to deliver life-changing access and independence to Texans across the state. We built more than ramps—we built trust, partnerships, and confidence in what this organization can achieve together.

Now, it’s time to build on that momentum.

In 2026, we are ramping up for the exciting, and very real, challenges that come with expanding our mission delivery. Demand for ramps continues to grow, particularly in communities where mobility barriers too often keep people isolated in their homes. Meeting that need will require us to think intentionally about how we strengthen our foundation while extending our reach.

This year, I’m asking each region to help us construct new opportunities by first surveying our communities—looking beyond our current teams to identify who else might be ready to step forward. If each region can identify just one new person to engage and cultivate one new build team, the collective impact would be profound. That simple step would significantly increase our capacity to serve more Texans, faster and more sustainably.

Growth doesn’t always mean doing more alone. Often, it means inviting others to join the work—neighbors, volunteers, partners, and advocates who share our belief that access to home is access to dignity.

Thank you for the role you play in building this organization, ramp by ramp and relationship by relationship. I look forward to working alongside you this year as we strengthen our structure, expand our reach, and continue delivering freedom across Texas.



Together, let’s keep building.

Mark

Ramp Construction

Volunteers across the state reported 2,930 ramps built—a 7% increase from 2,727 ramps in 2024 and a staggering 79% leap from 1,657 during COVID. In 2025 TRP provided ramps in 148 Texas counties. Our ultimate goal is to provide ramps in all 254 counties, fulfilling our mission that no Texas resident who needs a ramp should go without one because of financial limitations.

Once again Dallas, Amarillo and San Antonio Central led the pack with 307, 301 and 237 ramps, respectively. East Texas Tyler, Waco South, Bryan/College Station and Austin Central cracked the 100-ramp mark at 149, 133, 117 and 102, respectively. Dramatic increases over the prior year were seen in East Texas Marshall (93%), Temple/Belton (78%) and East Texas Emory (54%). Regions with at least a 25% increase were San Antonio Central, Texarkana East and East Texas Van Zandt.

The 2025 figures brought TRP’s total ramps built since our founding in 1985—40 years ago—to 31,824. Those ramps, if laid end-to-end, would extend over 165 miles. Referrals rose to 6,619 in 193 counties. And already volunteers have built another 84 ramps in just the first three weeks of January. Our goal for 2026 is 3,000 ramps, and there is no doubt we will reach and probably exceed it.



The need for safe access in Texas continues to grow. Over 1.7 million people of all ages in Texas report a mobility issue, including 22.2% of Texans 65 or over. Last year 66% of TRP’s ramps were built for people who were 65+, and 78% were for people 60 or older. With 58% of ramps provided for female clients, it is evident that our most frequent ramp recipient is a low-income older woman.

Revenues

2025 saw a sharp increase in revenues, partly due to large donations from Methodist Healthcare Ministries and Honda USA Foundation, both $100,000. Other major donors were Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, $75,000; Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio, $60,000; St. David’s Foundation, $58,000; State Farm and Hillcrest Foundation, both $50,000; and Isla Carroll Turner Friendship Trust, $40,000.

Grants, reimbursements and donations in 2025 topped out at $2,871,406. The largest sector was foundations, charities and trusts, at 57% of total revenue. The second highest amount of funding, at 12%, was from individuals, and third was businesses at 11%. The remainder came from churches, civic clubs, United Ways, reimbursements and in-kind contributions.



The foundation and many business grants are primarily generated through a central support team, but much of the rest is generated by region coordinators, team leaders and volunteers being proactive with local businesses, churches and civic groups. The most heartwarming contributions are from individual donors. These are people whose lives, or hearts, have been touched by people they know or hear of struggling with a mobility issue.

Austin County is starting up with the help of Washington County’s Butch Meier, who has trained an Austin County team. Houston Central has expanded into Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, while Houston North has set up a team in Waller County. Bosque County has awakened under the leadership of Gary Waller. Lubbock is about to reopen with new team leaders David and Toni Hunt.

Volunteers

People keep showing up to build. After all, where else can you spend a morning and go home having transformed a person’s life? Last year volunteers donated 87,000 hours of labor to ramp construction alone. Many others assisted with administrative functions, which are not recorded in the Salesforce database. The value of construction hours came to nearly $2.5 million. Since 2006 TRP has garnered over 831,000 volunteer hours, valued at nearly $21.7 million.

TRP does not have a count of actual volunteers, although for many years we have estimated it at 3,500. We expect the real number to be much higher, because many of them are part of a church, business group or youth mission trip that builds perhaps once or twice a year. What we do know is that last year we had 25,561 volunteer participations—that is, people who assisted in building a ramp on any given day. How many of those are building just once or many times over a year is not captured in the data.



In any event, TRP exists because of its volunteers. And they keep coming back, because their experience on site is so rich and fulfilling. The passion of our volunteers is what keeps the Texas Ramp Project moving on to serve more and more Texans who need safe access and can’t afford it.

Media Coverage

TRP’s 40th Anniversary generated increased earned media coverage across local and regional outlets, elevating public awareness of TRP’s mission and impact. Media stories emphasized TRP’s 40-year history, statewide footprint, and direct community impact—expanding reach to new audiences and reinforcing the organization’s credibility with donors, partners and referral sources.

In the fall, templates were sent to coordinators, making it easier for them to tell their story to print and TV stations. You responded, and TRP received coverage in more than 50 newspapers and other media, doubling the number of media responses in 2024. Coverage extended from Texarkana to Tyler, Amarillo to Austin, Mexia to McAllen—lots of news articles and TV interviews with volunteers on-site.



TRP has such an impressive story to tell, and it was well told in 2025.

Moving Outside the Boundaries

Robin Roark of the San Antonio Northeast region reports on a novel situation in which a team is going outside their own Guadalupe County lines to build ramps. Of the six Seguin-based build teams, five built ramps exclusively in Guadalupe County. A sixth team serviced families in Bastrop, Bexar, Comal, Caldwell, Hays and Wilson counties.

In 2025, the six teams built or repaired ramps for 115 referrals—48 in Guadalupe County and 67 in the other counties. Referrals in Wilson County accounted for the bulk of the 67 outside referrals, with a count of 35. The Cross County team was able to resolve nearly all the county’s backlog. By the end of 2025, Wilson County was averaging less than 100 days from referral to build. Lag times for Caldwell and Hays counties dropped to just under 60 days.



The region’s warehouse team at First Methodist in Seguin was also busy, working every Monday over 44 weeks to process materials for the 115 referrals. A special shoutout goes to Robin and the Cross County team, especially those from First Baptist and First Methodist churches, for looking beyond their borders—seeing a need and filling it with hard work and compassion for those awaiting safe access.

Volunteers with the Texas Ramp Project Robin Roark (left) and Mike Weiss put together a box for decking recently at the First Methodist Church in Seguin.

Cross County Team volunteers line up with client at one of 40th Anniversary builds.

Volunteers of the Month: Jerry and Mary Hearron,

Texarkana West Region, Titus and Franklin Counties

The Texas Ramp Project has another power couple: Jerry and Mary Hearron. For the past five years they have worked side by side to provide ramps for residents who need them in Titus and Franklin counties. Last year saw 37 ramps built in these two counties, with another 16 in Hopkins County.

Jerry and Mary first began working with Texas Ramps after being recruited by Tom Nuchols, team leader for Titus County. Jerry works alongside Tom—a virtual “Tom and Jerry show”—visiting home sites and designing the unique ramp needed. Jerry builds the modules in his workshop and hauls them to the build site. Since volunteering with Texas Ramps in 2021, Jerry has built modules for 132 ramps.

Mary receives ramp referrals for Titus and Franklin Counties, as well as completes and submits paperwork for each ramp built. She also works at the job site on occasion. “The best part of working with TRP,” the Hearrons say, “is the joy in seeing each client enjoy the mobility and freedom that comes with the construction of each ramp.

“The biggest challenge,” they add, “is keeping up with the demand.” Their team has had a record number of ramp referrals each year, from 20 to 30 to 40 to 42 in 2025. They believe this has been a direct result of communicating with their community through local news articles and presentations to service groups.

The two Hearrons come from different parts of the country—Jerry from Talco in Titus County and Mary from St. Paul, Minnesota. They both have degrees from East Texas State University. Jerry taught for 39 years with additional years at Exxon Corp. Mary taught for 37 years at Northeast Texas Community College. Married 52 years, they live in Mount Pleasant and have three children and three grandchildren.



Jerry and Mary are active members of Tennison Memorial United Methodist Church. Additionally, they volunteer with Titus County Cares delivering Food for Kids bags each week and working in the food pantry. They also serve on the board for the Wesley Fellowship at Northeast Texas Community College. In their leisure time, they enjoy travel and gardening.

We'd love to hear from you. If you would like to nominate a volunteer to be featured as the Volunteer of the Month, send your nomination to Sandra Knutson, sjknutson@texasramps.org, and she'll follow up with you for the details.

TRP’s Deep East Texas region received a $1,000 grant from Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation at its annual check presentation ceremony on January 14. Pictured (from left) are Duane Freeman, a TRP build leader in training who is also part of Make It Happen Missions; Lee Harris, coordinator for Angelina and Nacogdoches counties; and John Alston, president and CEO of Brookshire Brothers and a BBCF board member. The foundation also provided TRP with $1,000 in gift cards.

This year BBCF awarded a total of $146,200 in grant funding to 70 nonprofit organizations and educational foundations throughout Texas and Louisiana. The foundation has given more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations over the past two decades, thanks to the generous support of Brookshire Brothers’ vendor partners who participate in charitable golf tournaments each year.

Recent Grants and Donations

The year-end income surge once again proved real for the Texas Ramp Project. During the month of December TRP received over $711,000 from foundations, businesses, churches, civic organizations, agency fees and individual donors. Grants from foundations and trusts provided the bulk of the total—over $475,000. December income from individual donors was an amazing $83,000. New grants and donations received since the December newsletter was issued include the following:

• $100,000 for Central and South Texas from Methodist Healthcare Ministries.
• $60,000 for San Antonio regions from Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio.
• $40,000 for Statewide use from Isla Carroll Turner Friendship Trust.
• $25,000 for Austin South from The Mitchell Foundation.
• $15,000 for Austin South from The Burdine Johnson Foundation.
• $10,000 for Texarkana North from Martha, David and Bagby Lennox Foundation.
• $9,480 for East Texas Tyler from Tyson Properties, LLC.
• $8,102 for East Texas Jacksonville from Dorothy E. Hendrick Charitable Trust.
• $5,200 for Wichita Falls from Guinn Foundation, Inc.
• $5,000 for Victoria North from Dickson-Allen Foundation.
• $5,000 for Amarillo from Josephine Anderson Charitable Trust.
• $5,000 for Dallas from Stephen M. Seay Foundation.
• $3,060 for Bryan/College Station from Rotary Club of College Station Charities.
• $3,000 for East Texas Tyler from Bob L. Herd Foundation.
• $2,248 for Temple/Belton from Immanuel Lutheran Ministries.
• $1,690 for San Antonio Northeast from St. Andrew Lutheran Church of Canyon Lake.
• $1,962 for Waco South from Waco Habitat for Humanity.
• $1,422 for Houston Central from Good Shepherd Church Cypress.
• $1,255 for Austin North from Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County.
• $1,000 for Dallas from Texas Instruments Foundation.
• $1,000 for Statewide use from Kimray Inc.
• $1,000 for Houston Central from The Guild Shop of St. John the Divine.
• $870 for Abilene from Colonial Hill Baptist Church Snyder.
• $840 for Austin East from Fayette County Habitat for Humanity.
• $750 for San Antonio Northeast from St. John’s Episcopal Church New Braunfels.
• $626 for Amarillo from Amarillo Habitat for Humanity.
• $600 for East Texas Tyler from Ed and Mary Heath Foundation.
• $500 for East Texas Tyler from Mt. Sylvan Baptist Church Lindale.
• $500 for San Antonio Northeast from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Seguin.
• $450 for Austin West from Hill Country Fellowship.
• $100 for East Texas Tyler from Langen/Wink Bible Class.

Ramp of the Month, Wood County

East Texas Emory Region

Because he uses a wheelchair, Troy S., 52, of Alba found it virtually impossible to leave his home safely. To give Troy safe access, eight volunteers from the Broad Street Church of Christ in Mineola donated 22 hours of their time to build him a new 32-foot ramp. Troy is happily waving as he tries out his new ramp. Gilmer Fresenius Dialysis made the referral.

You are encouraged to use the TRP Media Consent, Waiver and Release form for your builds. To access the form, click here.

Click on the logo below to access the TRP website.

We hope you enjoy having the newsletter sent to you directly, as it is filled with useful information, building hints and tips, data collection updates and processes, client stories, special announcements and recognitions.

The newsletter only does its job when it is dispersed and shared with all who might be interested. We encourage you to liberally pass it on to others in your region.

Also, do send email addresses of people in your region who should be receiving it, along with their name and TRP region, to Sandy Knutson at sjknutson@texasramps.org.

If you prefer to NOT receive the newsletter, you can unsubscribe by emailing sjknutson@texasramps.org and asking for your name to be removed or use the "Unsubscribe" link below.