http://www.wjcl.com/news/local-news/life-makes-local-homes-wheelchair-friendly/151770079/story

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (WJCL) – The federally funded Home Accessibility Project is helping disabled people in Southeast Georgia have more wheelchair-friendly homes.

Nail by nail, board by board, volunteers built 77-year-old Betty Godbee a backyard ramp that she says to her means freedom, and a whole new life.

“It’s going to change [my life]…it’s…it’s going to change it,” she said.

Godbee has cancer, and she says over the last two years, it has become more and more difficult to do the things she loves.

“It just gets worse…I have a very serious condition, a very serious condition,” she said.

Recently, a friend pointed her to the organization, “LIFE.”

LIFE is working together with Savannah’s Fair Housing Council to provide people with wheelchair ramps like Godbee’s, along with things like widened doorways, and grab bars.

The projects are federally funded and constructed by local volunteers.

“We just want to go ahead and tell them that were care about them, that they’re not forgotten,” volunteer David Lamb said. “They’re our neighbors, and if there’s a need there we want to go ahead and try to fill it.”

Lamb and his local church group have done several of these projects, including the ramp for Godbee.

They say one of the best parts is seeing the homeowner’s face when they are done.

“It’s a great feeling you can’t buy,” Lamb said. “You couldn’t give me a million dollars for it.”

For Betty Godbee, she says not that she can go outside on her own, she feels like she can breathe again. She is looking forward to visiting more with friends, and enjoying a little more time in the sunshine.

“I feel that my spirits are going to rise more, that I can use my muscles more, and don’t feel like I’m…shutting down period,” she said. “That I can still do something for myself.”

Some of the things Betty says she is looking forward to are feeding her birds, and working with her flowers.

Anyone interested in getting involved with the Home Accessibility Project can email Wayne Dawson at wayne@savannahfairhousing.org.