Help Aly Drive!

Hi, my name is Deb Amend and I am starting this GoFundMe for my daughter, Aly. Many of you reading this already know Aly, but for those of you who don't, let me tell you about one of the most remarkable, brilliant, and strong women I know! Aly was born with multiple disabilities, all stemming from a muscle/joint difference called Arthrogryposis. The end result of her arthrogryposis is that she is a full time wheelchair user with limited range of motion and strength in her arms. Aly has overcome so many obstacles in her life, and has emerged not only stronger as a result, but ready and willing to help others. She is an extremely empathic advocate for vulnerable and marginalized children, and she is an outspoken advocate for people with disabilities. Aly has been awarded multiple academic scholarships, and is on Miami University's President List for her academic work. She's a member of the Student Disability Advisory Council at Miami University, where she is studying social work, and plans to move on from there, graduating in three years instead of four, to law school. Either way, law school or social work, her end goal is to serve children and adults with disabilities. In other words, she is someone who works hard towards her goals, and her goals involve service and change!

Aly has been working towards a very important goal in the past few years. Due to the fact that Aly requires a 350 lb permobile wheelchair in order to maintain her independence, she will need to learn how to drive a modified van. While Aly has worked and gone to school in Cincinnati, using public transportation (as we have not always even been able to transport her wheelchair!), we've learned that it is not a reliable or even realistic way for her to accomplish all that she wants with her career and independent living. So, she began this journey several years ago with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. She is fortunate that they are able to modify a van for her, as well as provide the opportunity for her to learn how to drive and obtain her license through the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center for Rehabilitative Driving!

She has known that she will need to provide the van for them to modify for a few years. That van will need to come off of an approved vehicle list from OOD that will be cross referenced with the department at OSU. It must be under 3 years old, under 36,000 miles and still under manufacturer's warranty. While we don't yet know the specific vehicle that she will need to purchase, we know that it will be in the price range of $30,000, and currently it looks like she will need to produce the van sometime in February or March of 2024. Aly has been saving towards this goal for several years, and has about $9000 set aside. Our original intent was to continue saving, and take out a loan for the balance.

However, we have recently learned that that plan will not work, as she must be the title holder with no liens.

Over the next months, I will continue to look for grants, and to set aside money into savings, to help with the difference. However, Aly has agreed to allow us to open this opportunity to join this adventure of adaptive driving with anyone who would like to join her. I know the financial help would be tremendous for her, and I believe that de-mystifying the adaptive driving process will be beneficial to many. I will be updating this website as she works towards this goal, and hope that others will join us and learn more about the importance of driving and independence for full time wheelchair users!