Chickasaw Nation Head Start Family Service worker Melinda Filbeck, far left, with members of the tribe’s Career Development Initiative crew Quentin Williams, Jamie Lewis, Stephen Prince, Verma McCoy, and Roger Stick, and Head Start teacher Tammy Walton (kneeling) with Mark and Cole Collins, their mom Mrs. Renia Collins on the ramp the CDI crew built for Mark.

It only took some lumber and a little more than one day to make daily life a bit easier for one Chickasaw family.

During a routine home visit to the Collins household, Head Start teacher Tammy Walton asked the parents if they needed anything from the tribe. The family’s dilemma was a fairly easy fix: they needed a ramp to their home for their 11-year-old son, Mark, who is confined to a wheelchair.

Ms. Walton contacted Melinda Filbeck, a Head Start Family Service worker, who coordinated the project with the Career Development Initiative program.

“Home visits are a service we offer as part of Head Start,” said Mrs. Filbeck.

Crew members said they had previously built ramps for Chickasaw citizens, but this was the first time one was built for a Head Start family.

Head Start Family Social Service Manager Regina Anderson said one of the most important components of Chickasaw Nation Head Start was the family-community partnership, and the ramp project was an excellent example of this partnership.

For more information about the Chickasaw Nation Head Start program, contact Danny Wells at 580-436-7276.