TRP September2026 Newsletter: Preparing for a strong 2026 finish, special recognitions and much more.

Newsletter

Volume 8, Issue 9

September 2026

Message from Mark Denzin

Texas Ramp Project Executive Director

Preparing Now to Finish Strong

As we move into the final months of the year, now is the time to prepare for a strong finish—and an even stronger start to 2027.

Start with relationships. Reach out to the community partners, referral organizations, businesses, churches, healthcare providers, and volunteers who have supported your region. A simple thank-you goes a long way in strengthening the relationships that make our work possible.

This is also the time to get the practical pieces in order. Inventory your tools and supplies, submit your Hilti order early, replenish your collateral, and make sure your referral pipeline is vetted and caught up. Taking care of these details now will help prevent the year-end rush and keep our teams ready to build.

Most importantly, take a moment to appreciate what your region has accomplished. Every ramp represents a family gaining greater access and independence, made possible by volunteers, partners, donors, and community leaders working together.

Let’s finish strong, prepare thoughtfully, and carry our gratitude and momentum into the year ahead.

Thank you for all that you do.

Mark

Happy Birthday, Brittany Pratt!

How’s this for a birthday party? Organize your extended family to build a ramp in your honor. Britanny Pratt, TRP board member in San Antonio, and her husband, daughters, brother, niece, mom, dad and father-in-law turned out on September 26 to build a 21-foot ramp for a 79-year-old San Antonio man who was transitioning to a power chair. In lieu of presents for the birthday girl, the family donated $1,500 to cover the ramp and a second or third ramp as well. What a gift!

Brittany Pratt and family provide a safe and signed wheelchair ramp for a San Antonio man who couldn’t afford his own. The referral was from WellMed, Brittany’s place of employment and a TRP donor.

Robin Roark Receives Community Service Award

The Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards banquet September 15 and named one of our own as winner of a Community Service Award. Robin Roark, coordinator in Guadalupe County, was cited for his work with the Texas Ramp Project in the San Antonio Northeast region.

Robin got started with TRP in 2019 thanks to his pastor at First United Methodist Church in Seguin. Partnering with First Baptist Church, they got off to a roaring start with seven quick ramp builds. But along came COVID, their warehouse disappeared, and everything stalled. Then First UMC came to the rescue with storage space, and Robin took over the warehousing and prebuild responsibility.

Robin has built the volunteer cadre up to five teams, including a crossover team that helps out in nearby Comal and Caldwell counties. Last year he and his crews built 49 ramps in Guadalupe County. So far this year they are at 31 and counting.

In a note to his team, Robin had this to say: “As we all know, these kinds of awards don't happen through individual effort. It's truly a team effort and all of you are part of that team. So again, I humbly thank all of you for what you do to make TRP operate so efficiently in and around Seguin.”

Robin Roark of the San Antonio Northeast region has received a Community Service Award from the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce.

Volunteer of the Month: Phil Fenton, Bryan/College Station Region

Phil Fenton is almost an original. He was a pastor in Longview when TRP first expanded into East Texas. In 2008, when Phil relocated to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran in Brenham, he moved his operations to Montgomery County. He and his crew just built their 300^th ramp in the Bryan/College Station region.

For 24 years, Phil was very much hands-on with ramp builds. But over the past few years, Phil says, his role has been morphing. “I am learning the need to ‘lay down my driver’ and assist in supervising the volunteers. I also take a few minutes with most builds to orient volunteers to the mission and vision of TRP.” Phil also does surveys and paperwork for TRP and the Area Agency on Aging.

Phil was born in Longview and spent his childhood years in Venezuela before returning to Longview. He earned a bachelor’s degree from East Texas State University and master of divinity from Luther Theological Seminary. He led churches in Montana and Minnesota before returning to Texas in 1983, serving churches in Tyler, Longview and Brenham.

“My work with TRP has allowed me to give tangible and meaningful expression to my deepest held convictions and most honorable impulses,” Phil says. “These can be expressed in my life motto: The only important things we do in this life are those things we do for others.”

Phil continues to be active at St. Paul’s, and he often serves as supply preacher during pastoral vacancies and when pastors are on vacation. For three years he has tutored two days a week at Brenham High School. He enjoys fishing, golf, cooking and entertaining. He and Carol, his wife of 53 years, love to travel internationally but especially to visit their two grandkids in California.

Phil is also active in what he calls his “TRP ministry.” He has boosted TRP’s visibility through presentations to churches and civic groups. “It is clear to me that our most important work is that which we do for those whose lot in life has put them on the low end of privilege, access, resources and status,” he says.

“Thank you, TRP, for this perfect fit.”

Time to Seek Church Funding Is Now!

The Texas Ramp Project gets over 54% of its funding from foundations and charities. But that leaves 46% that must be raised elsewhere—from local businesses, churches, civic organizations, individual donors and reimbursements. Over 6% of TRP’s statewide funding comes from churches. In 2025 that accounted for $194,000. That is enough for nearly 200 ramps.

As an example, the Austin West region receives 25% (nearly $13,000) of total revenue from three churches. Austin East receives 13% ($5,500) from five churches.

The majority of TRP’s thousands of volunteers come from churches. Many of them will work with their church councils or ministries committee to help fund the ramps they build. This may come as one-time gift, a monthly donation, a special collection, or a promise to pay for materials for a ramp. The churches love that the funding stays in their community, helping their neighbors.

If you have not approached your own church–or other local churches—to support TRP or encouraged your volunteers to do so, now is the best possible time. Every fall churches begin the process of budgeting for the following year. So this is the time to talk to the people who make the decisions and tell them about our good work.

You can approach it the way Phil Fenton does—with a full-scale presentation—or just quietly suggest that TRP be a candidate for benevolence. Put your knowledge and passion to work in your church. TRP will benefit with more volunteer recruits and more dollars to continue our good work.

Children Collect Funds at Marble Falls Church

A member of the Highland Lakes Seventh-Day Adventist Church was scheduled to get a ramp last summer but passed away before receiving it. The children at the church decided to provide a ramp for another person in need and proceeded with a special collection. A check for $1,200 was delivered to TRP for use in the Austin West region.

Grants and Donations

Donations from churches continue to be important to TRP regions. Seven of the donations received in September are from churches, two of which—Hill Country Fellowship and The Church at Horseshoe Bay—provide a substantial donation every month throughout the year. Monthly donations do add up!

Other grants and donations include the following:

$20,000 for San Angelo from Mary Ellen Kent Bunyard Family Foundation.
$15,000 for San Antonio Northwest from Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.
$5,871 for Waco South from Waco Habitat for Humanity.
$5,000 for Statewide use from Renaissance Charitable Foundation.
$5,000 for San Antonio Central from Betty Stieren Kelso Foundation.
$3,000 for Texoma from Pentex Energy Charitable Foundation.
$2,861 for Amarillo from GrayCares Living at Home.
$2,688 for Dallas from Charities Aid Foundation – America.
$2,640 for Dallas from Community Council of Greater Dallas.
$2,500 for Dallas from Numotion Foundation.
$2,000 for Statewide use from Burns & McDonnell Foundation Fund.
$1,500 for Austin Central from Rotary Club Austin – Southwest.
$1,500 for Dallas from Rotary Club of Grand Prairie.
$1,200 for Austin West from Highland Lakes Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
$1,000 for Dallas from Texas Instruments.
$1,000 for Statewide use from Health Care Service Corporation.
$750 for Texarkana East from South Union Baptist Church.
$750 for Abilene from the Lale and B.J. Estes Family Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation of Abilene.
$455 for Dallas from Christ Church.
$450 for Austin West from Hill Country Fellowship.
$402 for Austin West from The Church at Horseshoe Bay.
$250 for Wichita Falls from Donnell Foundation.
$150 for Austin Central from Elgin Methodist Church.
$100 for East Texas Tyler from Langen/Wink Bible Class.

Volunteer Fair Brings Surprise Meeting

Central support team members Julie Gunter and Nancy DeLuca were among representatives of 31 nonprofits at the Good Growth Volunteer Fair in Richardson on September 18. One of the volunteers helping with the event was Bill Schaid, who was an early volunteer at the Dallas Ramp Project. He is friends with John Laine and others and was on the first build. Bill offered to recruit some volunteers from the city of Richardson and Richardson Chamber of Commerce for an upcoming build in Richardson.

Establishing Priorities for Referrals

One of the thorniest challenges for regions is to determine which referrals, out of the many received, should rise to the top of the priority list. Do we handle them first-come, first-served? Do we handle the oldest referrals and let the most recent ones wait? Do we build those closest to our volunteers, or the shortest ones, or the squeaky wheels who keep calling to find out where their ramp is?

It isn’t easy, especially when you are receiving far more referrals than your volunteer capacity allows.

The attached list of priorities is intended to serve as a guideline that you can consider when evaluating which referrals to build first. They also can establish a certain amount of clarity for clients and for the providers who make the requests. If we have clear guidelines, we have something solid to fall back on when questions arise.

Volunteers in the field are trusted decision makers. But establishing clear priorities for clients will help you decide who gets a ramp and who may have to wait or, sadly, go without. Until we can help everyone—and that is our long-term vision—we will need to have reasonable and consistent guidelines to help with hard choices.

Click here for What Are Priority Referrals?

Ramp of the Month

Amarillo, Gray County

The last two years have been challenging for this Pampa family since the arrival of little Rizzo, who has cerebral palsy, seizures and visual impairment. Rizzo recently received a donated wheelchair, but it was scary to get her down the six steps from the deck to the ground. Volunteers from the Amarillo Downtown Lions Club and Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church traveled 64 miles to Pampa to join the client's family and friends in building this 44-foot ramp. Now there are no more scary moments for Rizzo. The family is so thankful for the ramp that gets their child safely in and out of the home. GrayCares Living at Home made this referral and also paid for the ramp materials.

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.

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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.

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