A Wheelchair Van for Elizabeth Joy

Elizabeth Joy. My baby sister's middle name is literally, JOY! And once a person sees her beautiful smile and experiences her positive outlook on life, a feeling of overflowing joy for the blessings in our own lives becomes pretty contagious and irresistable. 

Elizabeth is the best little sister in the whole, wide world as far as I'm concerned! But, I realize that many people who may come across this page don't actually know us personally and will want to understand WHY they have been asked to part with money for yet ANOTHER cause. Therefore, we are sharing some of Elizabeth's very personal story. 

There were many unfortunate family circumstances in Elizabeth's early life. By the time Elizabeth was 5 years old, the family was ripped apart by addiction and poor choices. Our family tree is riddled with major depression and suicides. It's a miracle any of us are here. Elizabeth's Anoxic Brain Injury occurred when she was 14 years old and suffering from major depression. She was institutionalized for cutting. She threatened to run away but she was told there was no way she could escape from the facility. She said "Oh yes there is"...

On January 4, 1994 Elizabeth went back to her room....and attempted to commit suicide by hanging herself with her bedsheet. She was without oxygen for at least 15 minutes. Elizabeth was life-flighted to the hospital and was in a coma. Her prognosis was considered not good. Yet, from that day forward, she has continued to amaze us, as well as her medical attendants, with her slow but steady progress. When she came out of the coma and stabilized, Elizabeth was transferred to a rehab hospital in Austin. Meanwhile, this ABI injury continued to cause a lot of impairment to Elizabeth's body as the signals from her brain which control her muscle movements were no longer functioning. She was left confined to a wheelchair with limited abilities.

When the Rehab Facility felt they had done all that they could, she was transferred to a children’s nursing home in Gladewater, TX in August of 1994 until our Birth Mother began recovery and could regain custody and bring Elizabeth home again.

Those who know me personally, know that I was adopted at birth and did not grow up with my birth family. I first met my little sister when she was 3 and I was 20. We were best buddies right from the start!. However, due to the family issues I last saw Elizabeth when she was 7. And, I was not able to see her again until our birth mother passed away 27 years later.

Because of this injury, Elizabeth is unable to care for herself. She cannot communicate clearly, use her hands to feed herself, or scratch her nose. She cannot walk, roll her wheelchair, or get herself to the bathroom and has no control of her bladder or bowel movements. If there were a fire or a flood, Elizabeth would be trapped in her bed or wheelchair. Graciously, Elizabeth has not exhibited any signs of depression since her suicide attempt and seems to have no recollections of being depressed. She exhibits only joy for each moment and love for all those in her life who treat her kindly. 

Because she needs 24 hour care, I moved back to Texas and became Elizabeth's full-time caregiver after our birth mother passed away in 2013. Being with my sister is the greatest joy in my life. And, we love being able to share our joyful life with others!

One of the biggest problems financially and safety-wise is transportation. Elizabeth is wheelchair bound and her wheelchair has some specific space requirements to fit into a vehicle. She requires a full sized van, with a raised roof and a lowered floor. And, an electric lift or ramp to accommodate her.

Brand new vans with the modifications and equipment needed to load Elizabeth and her wheelchair for travel can cost well over $75,000, which most families in our situation certainly could never afford. But, we didn't need a new van! We just needed a "new to us" van that is dependable, not likely to have costly mechanical issues, and that will safely accommodate Elizabeth's Tilt-in-Space Wheelchair. And... in 2018, we finally found one! With the money raised at that point, we were able to have a down payment and then finance the remainder of the vehicle through my credit union. The total cost of .the vehicle was $31,780. I make payments of $408 each month,

I'm once again asking for 500 people to donate $20 each. And let's be honest, we would be thrilled if 100 people could just donate $100 each! Any combination of efforts to reach our funding goal will be greatly appreciated! Any donations OVER our goal amount, will go towards our mortgage! We have a little over $98,000 left to pay off that bad boy!

If your family is able, please consider donating any amount that you can afford. No amount is too small. Also, I want to personally ask you to share our request with all of YOUR friends and family. I am a firm believer in the existence of abundance. And for some people, money is not a big obstacle. So please, consider sharing this with the people you know, who might have access to other people who could help us fund this much needed van for Elizabeth and reduce some of the family's financial burden.

I thank you sincerely for reading this far! And I will leave you with a little slice of Joy!