TRPIL consumers receiving raised planter boxes
Courtesy of Hartman & Hartman Construction
Employees of Hartman & Hartman Construction work on raised planter boxes that will be donated Wednesday to consumers of Traditional Paths to Independent Living in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties.
Courtesy of Hartman & Hartman
Employees of Hartman & Hartman Construction and others display some of the raised planter boxes they built and painted.
Courtesy of Hartman & Hartman Construction
Hartman & Hartman Construction employees begin making the raised planter boxes that will be donated to consumers of Traditional Paths to Independent Living.
Raised planter boxes will be coming to some people with disabilities in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties this week.
The boxes are the result of efforts of employees from Hartman & Hartman Construction Inc. of Eighty Four. Construction and painting of 24 raised planter boxes took place last week at the company’s offices.
The raised boxes will be about three feet high to allow people who use wheelchairs to access them for garden work. There will be 28 inches of clearance underneath to provide room for a wheelchair to get under the boxes.
The recipients are consumers serviced through Traditional Paths to Independent Living (TRPIL). TRPIL, which is located at 42 W. Maiden St. in Washington, is a membership-based center for independent living operated by the local community of people with disabilities.
Christine Shepherd, information and referral specialist of TRPIL, said she was visiting one of the organization’s consumers at her Washington home last summer and noticed the elderly lady could not reach her tomato plants since they were on the ground. That spurred her to look into getting planter boxes for those who may face the same quandary.
That brought Hartman & Hartman into the equation.
“I was getting all excited about about this and told them about these planter boxes,” Shepherd said. “They called me and said how many do you want. They’re putting dirt and plants with them.”
Alina White, who oversees Hartman Foundation, the company’s charitable arm, said money is set aside for such projects that are done through organizations in the Washington area.
“We’ve been doing this for about five years,” she said. “We didn’t want to just be a company that works in the area and that’s it. We want to make sure we’re making an impact.”
Recycled pallets were used to make the planter boxes, which will be filled with flowers and produce plants.
“They’ll be raised up to the height where they can roll a wheelchair underneath,” White said. “They will have access to something that will allow them to eat well and live well.”
At first there were nine consumers interested in receiving the boxes before it eventually grew to the current 24 recipients.
“People got really excited about it,” she said. “Some of the locations are high-rise apartments in Washington, senior-living situations. Some of are just consumers houses. We’re going to fill them with soil and give them plants. We’re really excited for them. We’re going to have people in the company paint them with stencils. It’s going to turn out really amazing.”
The planter boxes will be delivered Wednesday with EQT donating the trucks to be used to help with the deliveries. There will be two going to homes in Fayette County, four in Greene County and the rest will be sent to Washington County residents. There also will be two placed at the entrance of TRPIL for consumers to use. Shepherd said there was so much interest she had to cut it off.
“We’re all about independence here,” Shepherd said of TRPIL. “Having these people be able to plant their own things gives them even more independence. (Hartman & Hartman) made this happen. The consumers have been calling and asking, ‘When are we going to get them?’ It’s nice to see they’ll be planting their own stuff. I didn’t think there would be that much interest in this. I was pleasantly surprised.”