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Jerry Riley is disabled by Parkinson's Disease and arthritis
YOUNGSTOWN
Community individuals and organizations came together recently to build a deck on the home of Army veteran Jerry Riley.
The deck will give Riley, who is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and severe arthritis, a chance to get out of his house and occasionally out of his wheelchair.
Linda Riley, 69, is her husband’s caregiver with help two hours a day from home health aides provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Jerry will turn 79 next Monday.
Friends built a ramp for the Rileys a year ago so Jerry could more easily get to a vehicle for medical appointments. The deck, with 12-by-8 foot sections attached to each side of the ramp, runs the length of the front of their house.
The deck project was spearheaded by Thomas Dailey of Youngstown who was serving communion at St. Christine Catholic Church when he met the Rileys and learned that Jerry essentially was home and wheelchair-bound.
Dailey told them he would try to help.
He contacted Don Murphy, general manager of Donnell Ford, who had headed construction of a new facility for American Legion Post 472 on Indianola Avenue.
Dailey said Murphy offered to help and contacted Bernard Daniels Lumber and Hardware in Canfield for building supplies. Post 472 provided free labor and $300 for the project. The Rileys themselves had fundraisers that garnered about $700 for materials.
“The deck will give him a little more freedom and some room to walk back and forth,” said Linda, who formerly worked in the home health care industry. “He has been pretty much confined to the living room and bathroom for the last 18 months. Also, I can do gardening in the front yard and still be close to Jerry if he needs me.”
Also living in the Riley’s small home are their daughters, Mischelle and Heidi Riley, and a granddaughter, Trisha Riley, and occasionally a couple of great-granddaughters.
“Once the deck is finished, we’ll concentrate on fundraising to make the bathroom handicap-accessible and to widen the doorways in the house,” Linda said.
Making the house handicap-accessible is a $10,000 project toward which the VA will pay $2,000, she said.
Before he was disabled in 1986, Riley worked at Commercial Shearing and in maintenance for the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Youngstown Street Department.
Shortly after they were married in 1966, the Rileys began taking in foster children and continued to do so until 1995. Over the years, they have delivered food to families in need and helped bring Christmas to those who could not afford it.
Jerry was active with The Knights of Columbus, and both were involved at St. Dominic Catholic Church and St. Christine and were active with Catholic charities.