Jake’s Wheelchair Van Conversion

Jake is an almost 16 year old boy who shares many interests that other kids his age enjoy. He is an avid fan of Discovery ID and especially loves Homicide Hunter with Lt. Joe Kenda and Murder Chose Me, but his absolute favorite is Blue Bloods with Donny Wahlberg and Tom Selleck on CBS on Friday nights. He’s also a fan of HGTV Property Brothers, Fixer Upper and Holmes on Homes with Mike Holmes.

When not watching crime shows or house renovations, Jake participates in HippoTherapy @ TREE House of Greater St. Louis once a week. His horse’s name is Bug and they have a pretty awesome connection. Jake started riding when he was only 5 years old to work on strengthening his neck and core muscles, balance and coordination. He has definitely come along way!

Jake has weekly OT and PT appointments, regular doctor visits with his orthopedist, neurologist and pediatrician and sometimes has to travel for medical care to places like the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. . 

One of Jake’s favorite things to do is going out in the community to “look around” at Home Depot or Lowes. One time he even pretended he was being blown away by the fans!


He also enjoys eating at one of our local restaurants on occasion. He can often be found at O’Charley’s, Pasta House, Arby’s, Freddy’s, Longhorn and The Tattooed Dog grabbing a bite to eat where most of the wait staff and managers know him well.

Jake has recently experienced a major growth spurt in the last year growing over 12 1/2” and gaining almost 30lbs. While this is actually an amazing accomplishment, he has had to get a larger wheelchair and Sit to Stand. This has left our current van too small requiring his parents to find a larger van to fit his needs that will take him into adulthood and allow him to continue access to therapies, doctor visits and socializing in the community.

Asking for help is never easy. Jake’s parents have recently had to purchase a larger van. They are hoping with assistance from family, friends and those in the community they will be able to raise funds towards the cost of the van conversion with VMI (Vantage Mobility International) and associated transportation costs.

If you’ve ever wondered how a wheelchair van conversion is done, it’s actually quite extensive. The entire vehicle contents are removed including the floor so a new lowered engineered floor can be installed (12” lower) allowing a ramp to be installed and increase headroom. Here is a brief video explaining the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhUVi0_0-k 

If you can donate, awesome. If not, WE understand. Before posting this, we consulted the Go Fund Me Help Center. They claim that campaigns with a strong Facebook presence are 350% more successful. So please Share, Like, Snap, Tweet, Instagram, Text, e-mail or whatever else you can do to help spread the word for Jake. We thank you from the bottom of our heart ❤️