Rappelling down a 10 story building downtown is not something that you get to do everyday. It’s also not something that you get to do legally unless you have a permit, which is why I was really excited about the opportunity to help share awareness for the Over the Edge for Elders event for affordable housing for seniors by Episcopal Retirement Homes. The YMCA building, where the rappelling took place, was significant because the top floors would benefit from this event to become affordable housing for seniors in the community.
My grandfather lived to be 95 and he was such an amazing person. I love that Episcopal Retirement Homes is helping not only value but also giving a quality of life to a generation that can be forgotten or overlooked in our society.
You might remember my interview with 94 year old Astar Daniels. She is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. She volunteered to rappel down the building to raise money to help give other seniors in the community the opportunity to live in housing that was not only affordable, but also provided a sense of community, which gives a better quality of life.
She was brave enough to rappel down on Friday night to kick off the event along with a few other local celebrities like Jim Tarbell, who rappelled down the building in tails and a top hat on top of his helmet.
My adventure was scheduled for 2pm on Saturday. I think the worst part is waiting while watching everyone else go down because it gives more time for you to get nervous. I’ve rappelled before and I’m generally ok with heights but there is always that bit of doubt in your mind that imagines what could go wrong.
I had my family to cheer me on except for my husband who had to work that day. I was fortunate to have Maria and Jason Walley from Kandidly (which is kind of like an uber service for finding a photographer) to document my adventure as I prepared.
Due to safety restrictions, I couldn’t have anyone come with me to get pictures from the top. I am forever grateful to the Over the Edge volunteer who took these pictures at the top of the building for me.
The views of Over the Rhine from the rooftop were incredible!
The views were also a crazy reminder of how high up I was before going over the edge.
We had a safety training on top of the roof before our rappel to make sure that we were comfortable with the equipment and knew how to control our speed on the way down.
Fortunately, I’ve rappelled down mountains and cliffs before, so I knew the hardest part is leaning away from the structure at the beginning. You just have to trust the equipment which can be hard to wrap your mind around.
Jason Walley captured the rest of the moments on my way down the building.
On my way down I did get radioed a few times to slow down my pace or the safety line could lock up. My brake hand could feel some heat through the glove from the friction so I decided to listen to their advice.
The descent down the building went really fast and was over before I knew it.
I was excited that my boys could be there to see that it’s great to face your fears and challenge yourself to try something new.
You can find out more about supporting affordable living for seniors from the Episcopal Retirement website.
You can also learn more about using photographers from Kandidly from their website.
Disclosure: I was invited to participate in the Over the Edge for Elders event and provided images from Kandidly to help bring awareness. All opinions are my own.
That is probably one of the coolest fundraisers I have ever seen! How creative!