

Profiles in Ability
Hurricane Katrina swept through Louisiana and Mississippi creating the worst natural disaster this country has ever seen from a Hurricane. The levy system failed to hold back the massive storm surges. Not only has it changed the landscape forever, but more importantly the impact it had on so many lives.
The first day after Katrina hit there was one plane that was able to get out of New Orleans before the airport was closed. That flight came to Chicago.
An elderly couple managed to get on that plane to stay with family members.
Their damaged home is located in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Both in there early to mid –eighties, the husband also living with Blindness and being confined to a wheelchair. They were one of the lucky ones to get out early.With the evacuations taking place, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, Including massive numbers of disabled citizens.
Given The Ability, Inc. received a call from AmRamp Chicago who donated the ramp and asked us if we would be interested in helping this elderly couple out. The following morning Given The Ability, Inc. was installing a ramp for this couple in distress who had just gone through one of the most viscous storms in recorded history. The ramp was in 48 hours after they left New Orleans.
In a case like this with all that had happened the last thing most people would think of was first on their mind. Access to safety in the form of their daughters home half a county away.
The couple I speak of are now trying to rebuild their life and home back in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. All of us at Given The Ability wish them the best of luck and a sp[eedy rebuilding process...and we all look forward to trying out their Gumbo next time we visit The Big Easy.
Given The Ability, Anything is Possible
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