Do you know of any organizations that can help with wheelchairs?

mstang67chic

Going Green
I have a friend who is a parapalegic and she's really in need of a new chair. She's using a borrowed one that is on it's last legs, she has no job and no insurance. Any ideas on where to look?
 

klmno

Active Member
This is where local organizations can help- I'm not sure which ones help in each speicifc area but try calling the various lodges and they should be able to steer you in the right direction (Moose, Elk, etc.). Shriners mostly help kids, American Legion helps veterans and their families.
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Salvation Army here keeps wheelchairs that are donated in their storage room and only give them away to folks who ask.
 
http://www.ndrn.org/

This mentions people who need help with obtaining wheelchairs.

She also needs a wheelchair because otherwise she would be denied her civil rights -- right to vote, etc. because couldn't get to the voting both. All kinds of things that make her not having a wheelchair against the law. (ADA)

HTH.
 
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slsh

member since 1999
In addition to above, I'd have her check with- local rehab hospital. Those folks are great with- funding resources. If she's not on Medicaid, she should apply asap.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
She needs to apply for medicaid AND social security disability/SSI immediately. It can be done over the phone, or at least started that way. If she needs help with this the area social security office will provide it or find someone to help.

Contact all the area churches. If they do not have one then they may make it a fundraising goal for one of their groups. Our Sunday School program raised money to provide an electric wheelchair for a young man in our area a couple of years ago. they did penny drives, bake sales, a garage sale (older kids did this - younger kids donated stuff), and a number of other activities.

If a group wants to do this, they can request a lemonade stand from Sunkist - they are only available at certain times, but if you contact them and they are not available to everyone sometimes they will send one anyway. You get a neat cardboard stand, similar to the stand Lucy uses on the Peanuts cartoon strip. It also comes with various recipes and ideas, and a lemon juicer. We got one a few years ago and raised $85 for Heifer International one weekend at church. To make good and cheap lemonade use 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of lemon juice for every half gallon of lemonade. You can add other juices to get pink lemonade - the concentrated juicy juice cherry or welch's cherry sensation work well. These are in the pop can size containers of juice. You can also add frozen strawberries (thawed) to make it pink and tasty. If you have a Braum's store (regional ice cream and dairy store) they sell frozen strawberries in a quart size container that is very affordable and works well.

Catholic Charities will likely be a good source of help, regardless of her religion. Jewish Charities is also a good source. I don't think her religion would matter to them either. You can also post on freecycle.com for one. It is shocking the kinds of things that are given away there. In my area there were eight working computers and a bunch of monitors, as well as a big screen tv given away in the last week, among many other things. You can even post about it on craigslist, though I am not sure if you will get any responses.

Special Olympics might help or know of groups that could help.

Contacting your state representative could also be very helpful - they often have access to resources that regular people don't have.

I hope this helps and she gets a good electric chair soon.

Heck, contact your local Target, Walmart, Krogers, etc... They may donate $$ or have employees do a fundraiser for her. Starbucks also helps with things like this. Ours put collection cans out for a child with leukemia and their 3 stores got over $500 in a month - and they are NOT really busy here because there are several well established coffee shops on or near the campus that have loyal customer bases.
 
Hi mustang,
I'm sure that your friend lives near you, but we have a local group here "Friends of Disabled Adults & Children , Too" which is just awesome. They have donated durable medical equipment to individuals with disabilities all around the world. They are one of my favorite groups, and I can tell you that they do not turn people away.

Here's a link http://www.fodac.org/

The organization hired one of my clients who has severe cp. It has been a wonderful opportunity of him , and for them!

Valerie
 
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