Sonny Bridges cuts boards for use in future wheelchair ramps. Over the course of his 12-year ramp ministry, Bridges has learned a lot of tricks … including the low ledge on his saw horse where he can rest his saw with less chance of knocking it off.

Sonny Bridges is hanging up his hammer.

Bridges started building wheelchair ramps as a ministry in 2001. He tried to hand it off to a successor about 2008, but that didn’t work out. He wanted to retire a few years later, but no one would take it over so he stayed on.

Now, after a dozen years of building ramps for those in need, arthritis demands he lay off the circular saw.

During a recent interview, Bridges pointed to a swollen knuckle.

“That’s the finger I use to pull the trigger (on the power saw),” he said.

Heritage Church has agreed to take over the ministry, and Bridges was showing some volunteers the ropes when The Observer caught up with him back in May 1. He was pre-cutting boards for ramps at a warehouse the church owns. Now, the volunteers can back up a trailer, load what they need for a ramp, go to the site and assemble it. Having the boards cut ahead of time saves a lot of time on the worksite, he said. It’s one of the tricks he’s learned by building more than 200 ramps.

“I quit counting at 240 because I retired,” he said, “but nobody would take my place.”

Bridges said he averaged about two ramps a month.

“It’s been a tremendous help to those in Colquitt County because those really in need are the ones this program serves,” he said.

Bridges said he was directed to people in need of ramps by members of the health and medical community. In fact, he was reluctant to say who was taking over the ramp project because whenever the ministry has gotten publicity, his phone has rung off the hook with people wanting ramps. Anyone wanting to be considered for a ramp should call the Colquitt Regional Medical Foundation (229-890-3552), and the foundation will mail them an application.

Once Bridges was directed to a needy family, he visited the home. He had to see the site he would be working at to know if the basic ramp design would need to be modified. The Americans with Disabilities Act sets specifications for wheelchair ramps, and Bridges had to see how to apply those specifications to the home and terrain at the work site.

For instance, the ramp has to come off a porch. If the home didn’t have a porch, Bridges and his volunteers would have to build one: 5 feet by 5 feet, the minimum size allowed by the regulations. The ADA specifies the ramp must be 1 foot long for every inch between the bottom of the door and the ground. If a ramp is more than 24 feet long, the crew had to include a flat rest spot in the middle because an elderly caregiver can push a wheelchair only so far up a ramp at one go. And sometimes a lot’s size or design would not allow a ramp of the required size to run in only one direction, so the crew hadto include a turn.

Bridges would get a sense of what the project would entail just by looking at the site. Then he would calculate the cost of materials.

If the recipient’s family income was less than the federal poverty level, the ramp project and its sponsors covered the cost of materials. If the family income was above that, the family was asked to pay for materials, but Bridges said the project gets the materials at below-market prices.

Once the financial matters were settled, then came the trick question: “How many folks have you got in your family that can help?”

No family? What church do you go to? Bridges said he would contact pastors to get members of the congregation to help.

If he couldn’t get workers even then, Bridges said he had a list of 30 or so volunteers.

“They were my last resort,” he said, “because I didn’t want to wear out my help.”

There’s another reason for asking about family workers, too. “If the family helps build it, they’ll take care of it,” Bridges said.

Bridges said he’ll get out of the ramp project entirely, but not until the crew at Heritage Church feel they’re ready to handle it on their own. One of the Heritage volunteers joked that it might take quite a while.

He recently turned 77.  “And it’s time to quit. I’ve enjoyed it — and still enjoy it — but it’s time.”