Gamma Phi partners with CRET
(Children's Rehabilitation Engineering Team)
Since June 2008, Gamma Phi has been in a partnership with the Children's Rehabilitation Engineering Team of Mobile, AL (CRET). Through the CRET board we have been able assist with several local community service projects.
The first project we helped with was a wheelchair ramp in Pritchard, AL. (pictured left)
A few months later we helped the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind as they hosted a technology fair in downtown Mobile. Recently, we helped Alabama Rehabilitation Services assemble four tricycles for the physically impared. (pictured right)
Gamma Phi's official partnership with CRET gives us special consideration with Push America. Through Push America's Circle of Giving some of the money we raise for Push will be given directly to CRET. In November, 2008, Gamma Phi was able to present CRET with a check for $300. We were able to purchase an AmTryke® therapeutic tricycle, for a four-year-old girl named Kerstan. Kerstan has Spina bifida and is deaf. This tryke will be a Christmas present for her family, giving her the joy and freedom of riding a bike. Something her family would not be able to give her without our help. The chapter presented this to Kerstan on December 17, 2008.
Click here to see pictures from that event, http://www.childrensrehabengineeringteam.com/kerstan.htm
The president of CRET is Mr. Robert Perry. Robert joined the U.S. Army in 1971 and served as a helicopter turbine engine repairman and later as a helicopter pilot for seven years. After becoming disabled in a helicopter crash -- Robert, with the loving support of his wife Marcelle, earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Alabama. Robert has recently retired after 19 years of field experience in rehabilitation technology working with the Adult and Children's Rehabilitation Services in the Mobile area. Robert is practiced in the areas of computer access, recreation, accessibility, transportation, and augmentative communication. Robert has designed and sought funding for over twenty wheelchair accessible playgrounds in the Mobile area. As the president of The Children’s Rehabilitation Engineering Team of Mobile, Robert has maintained a network of rehabilitation professionals resulting in numerous successful applications of technology to adults and children with disabilities. Robert is a deacon and 1st grade teacher at the Creekwood Church of Christ. Robert is now involved with a consulting business Disability Advocacy & Solutions, LLC.
After working along side Robert over the last several months, the chapter voted to extend him membership in our fraternity. Robert was initiatied into the brotherhood of Pi Kappa Phi on December 13, 2009. We are proud to have him as a brother. He truly exemplifies what it means to be a man of character, committed to serving others.
For more information on CRET, go to their website at www.childrensrehabengineeringteam.com
For more information on Ambucs and AmTryke, go to their website at www.ambucs.com/general-info-2/