Carpenters in Lafayette are helping change lives

Sunday, May 14th 2017, 6:50 pm EDT by Kiyerra Lake

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — Lafayette carpenters are offering free services to help people in the community. Those services were life-changing for one Lafayette family.
 

Angela McMeans has been bound to her wheelchair for seven years.

“I have a hard time getting in and out the house,” she said. “I mean, I had to wait until my husband gets off work to do anything.”

Her husband, Steve McMeans, said it would take around 30 minutes to get her out of the house, down the stairs and in the car.

He said, “It was a chore of having to pick her up, carry her and then have to come back and get the scooter.”

But now, that time has been cut down. It’s all thanks to Carpenters Local 215. They built a ramp outside the home.

Union Worker Don Brightwell said, “When we help someone like that and they show their gratitude, as they did with all the hugs and the tears and everything, it’s wonderful.”

Brightwell and his team take on community service projects for free.

He said, “If for some reason we aren’t able to do it, we can contact, ya know, get you to the right people to be able to do that.”

The crew wants to help people who may not be able to pay for their construction projects.

Steve McMeans said, “We never would have been able to afford it.”

Brightwell said, “They go for months and sometimes years struggling and we’re here to help — all you have to do is ask.”

After years of depending on her husband for help, Angela gained back her independence.

She said, “I can do about anything. If I want to look at my flowers, I can look at my flowers.”

“It’s just been a real blessing no matter how you look at it,” Steve McMeans said.