Earlier this year we were blessed with the opportunity to meet and serve a young man by the name of Jashen Coles of Parsons, KS. After hearing of his spinal cord injury we reached out to see if our foundation could be of help. He and his wife, Ashley, attended our fun run back in May and we have been in communication ever since. One of our board members, Trent Schell, assisted in helping Jashen get to the fun run and afterwards he stopped by to check out the possibility of building a front porch with a ramp onto Jashen & Ashley’s house.
Our organization doesn’t have a construction crew, and we struggled a little bit finding people to build a ramp. The way it all played out was pretty amazing. Chad Graham, who also has a spinal cord injury, ended up being our crew Foreman. Chad has a construction background and so together with Trent and Jashen they designed and constructed a ramp that allows wheelchair access to the house. Previously Jashen had to leave his wheelchair in the garage, leaving him very limited mobility in the house. The ramp gives him a much safer way to get in and out of his house, as well as some freedom and independence. The front porch even gives Jashen and Ashley a nice place to sit together in the shade outside.
Our foundation was able to purchase the materials necessary for this project. Several people volunteered, and at one point there were three or four people in wheelchairs moving around the driveway and front yard trying to simply do what they could with the abilities they had. Tim McMillan stopped by to offer encouragement and Dustin Baker drove all the way down from Humboldt a couple of times to help out with what he could and just to be there to develop a relationship with Jashen.
That’s what our foundation is all about and it was really cool to see the way that other people with injuries came together to help make this project happen. Many of you reading this will probably recognize the name, Kyle Gregg, husband of Colleen. Our foundation has been able to bless them a couple of times following Colleen’s accident. Kyle was one of the first people to volunteer and even brought his daughters to help Chad get this project started. I wanted to give a shout out to my nephew, Warrick, who also helped out when Chad needed a little extra muscle. And I’m sure there’s a few people that did not get mentioned, but you know who you are and we appreciate you!
We hope you will check out the pictures and share this story. Keep Jashen and Ashley in your prayers as they travel down this road together, learning to live with spinal cord injury. Ashley is working hard doing what she can to make things work and Jashen has a positive outlook on life. They are trusting God through this process and trying their best to serve Him. It’s encouraging to see, but we know it’s not an easy road. I personally want to thank everyone who has helped our foundation because you have enabled us to bless people like Jashen and Ashley.
Grace and peace,
Kevin & Janna Olson
