Get Ty A New Accessible Van

Hi, I’m Tyler, a 26 year-old artist and eternal optimist from Grand Rapids, MI. I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy which has required me to use an electric wheelchair for my entire life. My mom and brother do everything in their power to take the best care of me. An accessible van allows me to get around without having to depend on otherwise unreliable public transportation which is also sometimes unsafe for people in my situation. Other than my wheelchair itself, a van is the most vital piece of equipment for my well-being. Not only is it important to have available in case of emergency and for doctor appointments, but it also allows me to be an active and present member of the community.

To grasp how desperate we are for your help in this I should probably tell you some of our struggles with past vans. We always try to stay lighthearted with these stories in spite of how frustrating they were at the time. The first van from my childhood was an Astro. I don’t remember a lot about it other than the doors needing to be bungied shut. That’s not a great start, but it would soon prove to be the least of our worries. A while later we had a big green van that broke down shortly after we got it. It never ran well and we nicknamed it The Green Mile because that was as far as it moved in a year’s time and because it was always seemingly on it’s last life. The day I got my new wheelchair I could no longer fit in The Green Mile, something we didn’t at all plan for. So I went an extended period of time without a vehicle. From there we got a used brown Dodge and converted it to be Tyler-accessible. I will always remember the day mom brought it home and when I got to the top of the lift realizing how low the doorway was. I’ll also remember how upset mom was over having poured hard work and money into another failure of a van. I had to duck very low in and out of the Dodge every time we went anywhere, something that was extremely difficult and painful for me. On days where I felt especially weak, I’d have to stay home because I feared I wouldn’t be able to get out of the van once I got to my destination. After quite a few years and further progression of my disease it got to be too much so we began searching for our next van. In early 2015, we found it. It was perfect! This guy was selling his late mother’s lightly used Dodge Caravan, a white minivan already converted with a lowered floor and the passenger seat removed so I could ride shotgun! It was amazing and a whole new experience for me. We quickly fell in love with the van for how easy it was to load me into it and for how smoothly it rode prompting us to name it White Lightning. Very shortly after, our love for it was proven to be one-sided. The trend continued and we started to have troubles with it. Upon further professional inspections it was discovered to have a completely rusted, rotted out floor and frame. We were told it was unsafe to be driving at all and especially during snow/rain and over long distances. It was beyond repair. With no other immediate options we kept using the van in the meantime while keeping an eye out for anything catastrophic. Thankfully we had a mild winter, right? Anyway, it hit us pretty suddenly this week after the latest breakdown that the time has finally come. White Lightning has been forced to retire. He’s done for and again, I’m without a consistent way to get around.

In keeping a positive attitude I’m choosing to look at this as perfect timing. It’s about to be summer time and I can at least go outside without freezing my tail off. And when I absolutely need to go have a real societal life, I can brave the unsteadiness that comes with riding alone on public transport. But in all things in life, we always have to think of the future by preparing now, we must be ready for emergency, and we must have something by winter. With the price of accessible vans being outrageous (here's what we're looking at) and our funds being all but depleted having only just last year purchased the last van, it’s here we turn to our friends and the world for a huge, life-changing favor. I desperately need a nice van. I can’t deal with junk vehicles and the stress they’ve caused our family any longer. It would mean the world to me if you could contribute. Not only will I send you all my virtual love, but you’ll be in my thoughts literally every time I go someplace away from home.

Thank you. God bless. Godspeed. Love, Ty.