MARYSVILLE — Darrell “Carson” Champine suffered a brain bleed in utero and wasn’t expected to live past birth. Now 5 years old, he has cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus and severe visual impairment.

Carson’s mother, Alicia Champine, is also raising two daughters, ages 7 years and 18 months. Carson is big for his age, weighing 62 pounds, and his motorized wheelchair weighs another 60 pounds.

Up until 20 months ago, Champine and her husband had to carry Carson in and out of their car and house, before they received a wheelchair-accessible van from her parents, which she described as “such a blessing.”

Although Champine heard about the Master Builders Association ramp-building event from a friend last year, she was too busy with her new baby to consider applying for it.

But she knew she wanted her son to be able to join the family in the back yard, so she was gratified that a seven-member crew from Gamut 360 Holdings could build an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramp in her back porch.

The Champines were one of two Marysville families to receive ramps from the association and local businesses May 21.

“Carson is sensitive to having a lot of noise and people around, so rather than being out in the community, the back yard is where he prefers to hang out,” Champine said. “Before, all we had were steps leading up to the porch, so he would sit on the deck while we were all doing things out in the yard. This lets us spend more time together as a family.”

Champine looks forward to offering Carson even more opportunities to stay active when a wheelchair platform swing set arrives.

“He loves the movement of swinging,” Champine said.

Gamut 360’s Brian Thompson noted that this marked the fifth year his company has taken part in the event.

“We had to remove a landing and a couple of bushes, but there was no buried treasure, so to speak,” Thompson said. “A lot of times, we’ll find temporary ramps that are steeper and shorter than they need to be, with no railings. They need to be more secure.”

In Arlington Heights that day, Chevi Jefferson, 7, was impressed at the number of people at her rural home to replace her front steps with a ramp, complete with a flower planter that she helped to paint.

“More and more people keep coming here and talking to me,” Chevi said, as she concentrated on painting flowers and ladybugs.

Every time Chevi descended the slippery wooden steps outside her front door on a rainy day, her bus driver, Dana McCollum, would gasp and pray she didn’t trip.

Because Chevi was born with spina bifida and club feet, she can’t support her weight without braces, and has to use either a wheelchair or a walker.

“I wrote a letter to the Master Builders Association, along with my application to get a free ramp built for Chevi, because I wanted them to know why she’s so special,” McCollum said. “Everyone needs to know what a wonderful little girl she is.”

McCollum and Kathy Farrell, the great-aunt with whom Chevi and her twin brother have lived for more than a year, agreed that Chevi is highly intelligent and empathetic.

“She’s smart as a whip, and she loves school as much as she loves other people,” Farrell said, crediting her grand-niece with constantly making drawings for her friends and asking about their welfare.

McCollum added: “She’s very intuitive to other people’s needs. She’s always bringing other kids notes and pictures of hearts, for their birthdays or just because.”

Project manager Eric Wallace supervised a crew of 18, ranging from adults in the construction field to friends and neighbors who’d never built anything.

“It’s a little challenging to keep this many people productive at once, especially with such a mixed skill set, but this hasn’t actually been that difficult of a house,” Wallace said. “At other houses, we’ve found rotting wood or objects buried where we need to dig to set the supports.”

Arlington Hardware and Dunn Lumber donated supplies and chipped in for pizza, which lightened the workers’ mood.

“They’re already happy to be helping out, though,” Wallace said. “I moved to Washington three and a half years ago, and Washingtonians are great people, but part of their self-reliant and independent character means they’re not so great at asking for help, even though they give it freely.”

McCollum expressed her gratitude to the Master Builders for bringing together resources for people who wouldn’t know where to look for them. Wallace emphasized that everything is donated.

“It all goes into the ramps,” Wallace said. “There’s no overhead.”