Dennis Hooper

Dennis lives in Roseburg, Oregon which is about 70 miles south of Eugene. He owned a landscaping business which serviced both residential and commercial properties.

That means he is paralyzed from the waist down, and he has sensory but no motor function below that level. In layman’s terms, that means he cannot move his legs, but he can feel pain in them. He continued running his business until 2007, when he sold it and retired. Dennis found our foundation on the Internet, and he had a very simple request. His home had a steep incline in the backyard, and he simply wanted to be able to access it. He had been using ropes to let himself down and pull himself back up, but his shoulders would no longer allow him the ability to do that. Having been in the landscape business, he wanted to be able to enjoy his yard and move around as freely there as he does inside his house. Being on SSI (supplemental security income) and food stamps, he didn’t possess the resources needed to purchase the necessary ramps and wheelchair platforms. In short, this was a modest request from someone who had made his living in the construction trades, and who now just wanted to enjoy his landscape. See the pictures below which give you an idea of the difficulty Dennis had traversing this area without a wheelchair platform and ramps.