Transportation for Patti Makosky Ruble
Donation protected
My name is Patti Makosky Ruble and I’m a quadriplegic retired social worker. I have a beautiful van that is not accessible to my needs and I can’t afford to make the modifications on my own. Therefore, my quality of life has been significantly impaired for the almost three years that I have been without an accessible vehicle. I would so much appreciate your consideration in helping with the costs to adapt my relatively new Chrysler Pacifica that I received as a gift some months ago, but without the adaptive equipment. I am on social security and I am unable to go the rest of the way with the funding.
Here is my story:
When I was 12 years old, I was caught in the last big polio epidemic in 1955. For the next 20 years, I lived a close-knit family life with my mom, dad and three young sisters, all of whom were as invaluable to me as I was to them-so much love flowed between us. My dad inspired me to read and to write creatively; I read daily to each of the kids, and played games with them, told them stories, taught them, and helped them with school work. Inactivity was not a word I understood very well.
This all changed in 1975 when I was offered the chance to go to The Ohio State University to study social work. As a quadriplegic social worker with a Master’s Degree, I had several wonderful jobs working with low-income people who truly needed help, but before stepping into my professional life, I did a number of volunteer jobs, one of which turned into a paying job after I left. I facilitated a group of Muscular Dystrophy Association parents while their children were being examined at the MDA clinic.
My first job was with Legal Aid. An attorney would ask me to do a job that could help his case, and my assistant and I were eager to do it. Many of these requests involved eviction cases; some might involve emotional issues in which the consequences of hoarding had to be cleared away to satisfy the court, or finding money had to be provided in order for the legal case to close. In the domestic area, we often needed to take children shopping for clothing who had been abandoned to their low-income grandparents and find resources needed by the family to whom they had been abandoned.
Between the two mainline jobs I had, which were Legal Aid of Columbus and Mid Ohio Board of Independent Living Environment, best friends had taken me to visit their family in Colombia for a month. We drove down to Florida where we caught the plane for Bogota. It was a true highlight of my life and they quickly became like a second family to me. Again, without a way to get into my car, the trip would have been impossible. But it happened and so many events were accomplished because of the blessing of adaptability. We took many trips: D.C, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Miami, etc. Now I am asking my Lord through you to allow it to happen again!
In the job after I left Legal Aid, I worked at M.O.B.I.L.E where I moved over 30 persons out of nursing homes under the financial support of Franklin County Jobs and Family Services. In order to do this, my assistant and I had to work for as long as it took, using the van consistently, to get all the things we needed for the client to change residences. After finding a place for them to live, we would take him/her to a donation furniture warehouse to choose what was needed to begin the job properly. We had to use at least a day or two to find the resources, such as groceries and daily living supplies, and to set all the furniture where it needed to go, while getting the client settled before leaving for the night. For all of this to get done, I needed a car that I personally could use. At the time, I was blessed with my trusty 2005 Chrysler Town and Country.
After I left M.O.B.I.L.E., a dear friend who is like my son asked if I might be interested in helping him put together a startup healthcare agency. I agreed and today Ohio-At-Home has transformed into two agencies (one a provider of direct support services, and one a provider of remote equipment; both agencies equally successful). My involvement, however, has dwindled since I can no longer get to the office without a van. Another thing I am very interested in doing is to help establish another Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities. I have already been asked to do this, but have no way to take part at this time.
I want to do so many other things with my life while I still have the time… And so many of them require accessible transportation.
Without a modified vehicle, I can’t continue to explore avenues in which I can participate in and contribute to community functions. I also am unable to participate in the things that most people deem necessary. I don’t do my own grocery shopping as I have no way to get to the store. I also have missed several doctor appointments, which recently culminated in a scary ambulance ride to the ER.
In September 2019, my Chrysler Town and Country finally gave out. After I lost the Town and Country, a good friend of mine gave me a Chrysler Pacifica. I am blessed by this gift, but it does not have the wheelchair modifications that are needed for me to use it at all. I am now on Social Security and that does not give me enough to finance the essential adaptive equipment.
I want to thank all of you at GoFundMe for hearing my story. You are truly the salt of the Earth to use your own revenue to help those of us who are in need of help. God bless you.
Patti Makosky Ruble
Retired MSW
Here is my story:
When I was 12 years old, I was caught in the last big polio epidemic in 1955. For the next 20 years, I lived a close-knit family life with my mom, dad and three young sisters, all of whom were as invaluable to me as I was to them-so much love flowed between us. My dad inspired me to read and to write creatively; I read daily to each of the kids, and played games with them, told them stories, taught them, and helped them with school work. Inactivity was not a word I understood very well.
This all changed in 1975 when I was offered the chance to go to The Ohio State University to study social work. As a quadriplegic social worker with a Master’s Degree, I had several wonderful jobs working with low-income people who truly needed help, but before stepping into my professional life, I did a number of volunteer jobs, one of which turned into a paying job after I left. I facilitated a group of Muscular Dystrophy Association parents while their children were being examined at the MDA clinic.
My first job was with Legal Aid. An attorney would ask me to do a job that could help his case, and my assistant and I were eager to do it. Many of these requests involved eviction cases; some might involve emotional issues in which the consequences of hoarding had to be cleared away to satisfy the court, or finding money had to be provided in order for the legal case to close. In the domestic area, we often needed to take children shopping for clothing who had been abandoned to their low-income grandparents and find resources needed by the family to whom they had been abandoned.
Between the two mainline jobs I had, which were Legal Aid of Columbus and Mid Ohio Board of Independent Living Environment, best friends had taken me to visit their family in Colombia for a month. We drove down to Florida where we caught the plane for Bogota. It was a true highlight of my life and they quickly became like a second family to me. Again, without a way to get into my car, the trip would have been impossible. But it happened and so many events were accomplished because of the blessing of adaptability. We took many trips: D.C, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Miami, etc. Now I am asking my Lord through you to allow it to happen again!
In the job after I left Legal Aid, I worked at M.O.B.I.L.E where I moved over 30 persons out of nursing homes under the financial support of Franklin County Jobs and Family Services. In order to do this, my assistant and I had to work for as long as it took, using the van consistently, to get all the things we needed for the client to change residences. After finding a place for them to live, we would take him/her to a donation furniture warehouse to choose what was needed to begin the job properly. We had to use at least a day or two to find the resources, such as groceries and daily living supplies, and to set all the furniture where it needed to go, while getting the client settled before leaving for the night. For all of this to get done, I needed a car that I personally could use. At the time, I was blessed with my trusty 2005 Chrysler Town and Country.
After I left M.O.B.I.L.E., a dear friend who is like my son asked if I might be interested in helping him put together a startup healthcare agency. I agreed and today Ohio-At-Home has transformed into two agencies (one a provider of direct support services, and one a provider of remote equipment; both agencies equally successful). My involvement, however, has dwindled since I can no longer get to the office without a van. Another thing I am very interested in doing is to help establish another Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities. I have already been asked to do this, but have no way to take part at this time.
I want to do so many other things with my life while I still have the time… And so many of them require accessible transportation.
Without a modified vehicle, I can’t continue to explore avenues in which I can participate in and contribute to community functions. I also am unable to participate in the things that most people deem necessary. I don’t do my own grocery shopping as I have no way to get to the store. I also have missed several doctor appointments, which recently culminated in a scary ambulance ride to the ER.
In September 2019, my Chrysler Town and Country finally gave out. After I lost the Town and Country, a good friend of mine gave me a Chrysler Pacifica. I am blessed by this gift, but it does not have the wheelchair modifications that are needed for me to use it at all. I am now on Social Security and that does not give me enough to finance the essential adaptive equipment.
I want to thank all of you at GoFundMe for hearing my story. You are truly the salt of the Earth to use your own revenue to help those of us who are in need of help. God bless you.
Patti Makosky Ruble
Retired MSW
Organizer
Patti Ruble
Organizer
Columbus, OH
