Help the Woods Get a Van Lift!

As our friends and family know, Reid and Paley have a rare muscle disease that necessitates the use of wheelchairs. Although we have a van to transport them, it is very difficult pushing the manual chairs up the ramp as the boys increase in size. Using manual wheelchairs also limits their independence since they have to rely on caregivers to push them where they need and want to go.

Now that they have power wheelchairs, they have more independence than before, but they can't travel farther than a roll through the neighborhood because our van isn't equipped to handle power wheelchairs and take them beyond the nearby vicinity of our home. The main problem is that the angle of the manual ramp we use to load their manual wheelchairs into the van is too steep to safely maneuver their power chairs, which we would have to push due to the strain on the motor by the steep incline. Each chair weighs nearly 400 lbs prior to the child and their respiratory and emergency equipment being loaded onto it.

In order to make the van truly safe and accessible, multiple modifications have to be made. The wheelchair lift is the most expensive component at $7500, but many other things need to be changed as well. The floor of the van needs to be reinforced to support the added weight. Docking bases have to be built to secure the power chairs. Tie down strap mechanisms need to be included. Seating for other passengers has to be rearranged. Wall to floor seatbelts installed for the kids while seated in their power chairs. (The power wheelchairs have safety belts, but these do not protect them in case of a vehicle collision.) Along with other parts and labor, that brings the total estimate to $21,420.09. 

Now that things are opening up again, we want to support Reid and Paley's health and well-being by bringing them out into the world more and more. Your support through prayers and donations to this fund can help us to do that!