Building bridges by building a ramp for GU neighbors

Published: May 22, 2024

Author: Dave Bell

After more than a year of planning, a project to benefit the residents of Almira Manor Apartments finally came to fruition this spring.

A wooden ramp to enhance access to the apartment building – located across Beaumont Avenue from the Greenville University campus – was first proposed by a GU Experience First team last spring. But the project was delayed due to government regulations and funding issues.

Then this year a new Experience First student group took up the challenge and found a way to make it happen.

“Our students were super excited to be part of the project,” said Nathan Jenkins, a GU accounting professor and faculty leader of the Experience First group. “Doing projects like this really resonates with this generation. They want to do good things for other people. In fact, when we asked for volunteers, more than 20 students showed up to work on the ramp.”

But even with plenty of volunteers, the project needed someone with the technical know-how to build the 30-foot-long structure. No problem. The team had located Rebuild Together, a national organization that does construction projects to assist low-income residents, seniors, and persons with disabilities.

And even better, the president of the organization’s Southwest Illinois chapter is Chris Azar, a Greenville University alum. Because of that connection to the University, Azar (pictured above) helped get the project off the ground and then – with the help of the student volunteers – completed the project in just two days in late April.

“There are at least two residents of Almira Manor who use wheelchairs to get around,” Jenkins said. “This project improved their access to the existing deck and it enhanced the University’s relationship with its neighbors. I’m glad that we were able to get it done!”

Serving on the initial project team in the spring of 2023 were students Zavier Shaw, Carter Kessinger, Ada Matthews, Jesus Garcia, Jill Car, and Emma Funk. Assisting those students were three GU staffers: Nathan Jenkins, Breck Nelson, and Phil Davis. Students who picked up the project this academic year were Charis Reivitt, Ian Wilson, Angela Lawson, Brandon Shannon, and Andrea Roberts.

Additionally, the following students volunteered their time to help construct the ramp this spring: Aday Zamora, Alejandro Puga Caetano, Victor Reis, Matheus Reis, Jasmin Sanchez, Drake Longstaff, Thomas Conn, Isaac Niermann, Dustin Konvalinka, Kenzie File, Gehan Li, Ian Wilson, Charis Reivitt, Daiki Noro, Naomi Swofford, Darius Scott, Brock Bailey, Gavyn Noblitt, Kaleb Gonzalez, Karsyn Sloan, Ryker Miller, Max Lynch, Claire (Nighi) Nguyen, , Chaqwan Williams, and Kayla Durbin.