Wheelchair Van for my mom with MS

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading our story.

It is very uncomfortable for me to ask for help, but here I am.

As you can see by the picture, my mom and dad are happiest by each other's side. They love to take long drives and just enjoy the scenery.. They love to drop in a friend's homes or bring over fresh baking.  This picture was taken last year when my mom was able to stand briefly just enough for my dad to manouver her out of her wheel chair and get her into this van.
He then would put the wheelchair in the back of the van, get my mom's seat belt on, adjust her to be comfortable, get himself situated and away they'd go.

Unfortunately that scenario has not been occuring over the last few months.  My mom has Multiple Sclerosis and it's progressive.

Here is my mom's story.

MS is a demyelinating disease which the insulating covers of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. The damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a range of signs and symptoms including physical , mental and sometimes pysciatric problems.

My mother's name is Brenda.  She is 62 years old and her and my Dad live in a very small town called Baldur, Manitoba, Canada.
My mom and dad adopted myself and my younger brother Darren  from birth.

My mom was diagnosed when she was 35 years old and had to quit work where she was head cook at our local hospital for 25 years. My mom loved to walk, work hard, play baseball, was an avid reader and she grew up a strong farm girl. She often reminisses those days with a smile.
My mom is a fighter, a go getter and the wind has been knocked out of her sails due to this disease.

I hate this disease so much. I cry when i think the impact it has had on her life. It's not fair.
But as my mom has always taught me, "let's look at the sunshine, not the dark clouds"

So that is what I'm doing. I want to make my mom and dad's life a little bit easier, So here we go.

Currently they do not have a wheelchair accesible van to be able to transport my mom anywhere.  They have to use a local handy-van that costs a lot on each use. My mom spent most of the winter, a cold Manitoba winter in the house, confined to her wheelchair and lacking the vitamin D that her body lacks from this disease.

My parents live in the house that they were married in 43  years ago, it is barely wheelchair accessible and currently has a lot of mold and mildew surrounding the windows and walls. 

10 years ago my mom passed out upstairs due to random MS complications, the ambulance could not get the stretcher down the stairs, resulting in a very serious sitiuation for my mothers health.  After that my father traumatized by this event, immediately moved their bed downstairs into the dining room. 
We didn't have a washroom for my mom so she had to use a portable toilet. My mom deserves better. My parents worked as a team and they both said as long as they get to sleep in the same bed, they are happy.

My dad is always by my mom's side.

He has made their dining room into their bedroom.

They are soul mates, best friends and are the cutest to be around. I think the secret to their marriage is their humour. Despite my mom's pain each day, her immobility and her depression, she always has a smile or a friendly loving voice over the phone.  When I call home they both giggle and laugh on each phone and sometimes I don't understand what they are saying but I'm laughing too, their energy and positive attitude is contagious.

My father, a retired Nurse and handyman of everything  has stuck by his vows, at the age of 73, he is strong Belgium man but the amount of care for my mom has taken a toll on him. He has pulled his back many times, he has hurt his arms, shoulder.. He takes care of my mom's every need. We have limited help in our small town and it's a lot for my dad.
He cleans, he cooks every meal, he walks the dog, he does the yard work, he transports my mom from room to room, makes sure she is dressed and showered, does the laundry, puts warms blankets on my mom, puts her to bed for naps, has her medications and does his best to entertain.
My dad gives all he has despite their lack of money, they will always have homemade cookies, bread and coffee to greet you with. My dad loves to give to others, to make others smile and most of all to make my mom smile. He has been know yearly to pick flowers out of his yard and give it to the local hospital. He plants a big garden and gives to everyone who visits. Heart of gold.

It is long days for my mom to just sit in her wheelchair, I want my mom to have a better quality of life and I want to ease my Dad's exhaustion.

We never really had much money, but we've always had an abundance of love.

I feel I owe it to my parents to have some of the comforts in life. The comforts that I know I take for granted.

My mom unfortunately due to lack of health care and her MS progressing can no longer stand. My mom has fallen many times only to have my Dad standing there devastated that he cannot lift his wife on his own. A couple of winters ago my mom trying to get into the van, fell underneath it and it took a lot of people and a lot out of her to get her up, she was devastated, embarassed and it was traumatizing to witness. She and my dad need more assistance.

My goal is to buy them a wheelchair accessible van and get them some help around the house, but I need your help.
They live by very limited means, at times they have not had the money for my mom's medications, they've never had a new vehicle in their life, and I can always recall the vehicles we had, breaking down. They rarely go out for dinner because my mom has no way to get there. Unless family visits my mom and dad are there alone. I am in Toronto and do my best to visit home as much as I can. They've never been on a vacation together and they don't ask for anything. So that part is up to me. I'm going to do it for them.

My dad has limited time to himself and unfortunately he has to do a lot of the shopping himself because my mom cannot get into the van. He doesn't like to leave my mom for long due to past bad experiences and my mom's personal needs.

Any help that you can give would be so greatly appreciated.  
Help for cleaning services, improvements in their home, an ipad or a computer that she can read from, proper fitting clothes to fit around my mom's leg braces, anything that would make someone ... a lady... my mom... my rock and the woman who took me in as a baby as her own... i want to make her smile. I want her to be able to ride beside my dad when they go for a nightly drive to look at the birds, the scenery, to go for an ice cream. Simple things.  Simple things in life we take for granted.

Thank you with everything I have in my heart. May you get in return blessings and love to you and those that surround you.

Please share our story with others.
With Love,

The DeKezel's