Support Moriah's Independence: Fund a Mobility Van

Hello friends!

Moriah needs a mobility van. With the loss of her full time career, credit is no longer an option for her, and with the household income more than halved, I can't hope to keep us afloat -and- try to buy anything of this size. She needs your help!

(A small note: Due to the way GoFundMe works, it refuses to accept that a person has two names, in my case my name, Ælith, and my deadname. Please rest assured, Moriah *IS* the beneficiary in spite of what the boilerplate page layout says.)

Her life right now consists of moving from bed to powerchair and back. Sometimes she gets the powerchair out of the house to get a ride with the Lynx mobility bus to medical appointments, but Lynx is not very reliable, leading to high stress and anxiety. A few months ago, she attempted to use the BAT bus, driving her powerchair all the way into Old Town to wait at a stop, and while getting off the bus was somewhat perilous, it was her ride home that sent her to the ER. Her chair's wheel spun out on a patch of dirt and the chair spun and dumped her over the curb, off the sidewalk. She's since mostly healed from that spill, but really this should never have happened. She needs a mobility van!

I intend to help her with this GoFundMe to purchase a used van or schoolie with a chairlift of sufficient capacity to lift her and her powerchair. If somehow you all are exceptionally generous, I will look into better and better options as more funds are raised.

I was really shocked at how little help there really is for disabled individuals. There is the vocational rehabilitation program to convert an existing van, but you -still- have to provide the van and they would only do it if the disabled person was the one driving it. From that step, the drop is all the way down to public disability transportation. For our area, that means the Lynx Transportation Service. So far they're not too bad, but they can be very late at times without warning and tend to fail at communicating this to riders. When the Lynx isn't available, or not feasible, that leaves the BAT Bus, which is barely passible as safe for someone in a power chair.

After that, that's it. All you have is the battery range of your power chair, limiting you to your town and no more.

Getting Moriah a mobility van will open up being able to take her to appointments with ease, with no scheduling difficulties or risks of danger. Reopen being able to get out and see friends and places. Being cooped up at home -involuntarily- is so destructive to one's mental health.

About Moriah

Moriah was the Build HOPE Advisor and Community Liaison at Maine Equal Justice. Maine Equal Justice is a nonprofit civil legal aid and economic justice organization working to increase economic security, opportunity, and equity for people in Maine. You really should check out these wonderful people. While there, Moriah had an enormous impact on the lives of countless Mainers. She guided many on the edge of poverty and destitution through the challenges of the COVID years. She processed many aid grants from the Build HOPE program, funded by a large anonymous donation. She did this all while struggling with her new diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), which was finally given to her in 2020. At the beginning she could get around with a cane, with effort. The cane gave way to a rollator in a few short months. Soon after that, the wheelchair become a part time aid...but not for long. For a time while waiting for insurance to approve a powerchair things were really bad. It took far too long, but they did at last about a year ago. Also, up until about a year ago, she was still able to stand and transfer herself between the driver's seat and her wheelchair and get around. That's now in the past. With only one good arm and a deep weakness in her trunk and other arm, this warrior and advocate for those in need is now herself in need. Please help her!