Keep the Wheels Rolling Repair Fund

We are excited to announce that our project, Keep the Wheels Rolling Wheelchair and Scooter Repair Fund, was chosen as one of the top ten finalists in the CDFI Challenge to receive a $10,000 donation!

Our Repair Fund is an extremely important and unique program benefiting low-income Californians with disabilities that reduces unnecessary waste by repairing and reusing valuable equipment. Most importantly, it gives individuals a chance to be independent, to live, learn, earn and remain active in their community. The Repair Fund was able to assist centers throughout California repair over 55 wheelchairs and scooters to get them into the hands of people that desperately needed them. People like Faustino and Maria.

Maria is a mother and co-founder of a Low-Income Self-Help Center and Community for Change in the Bay Area. She is described by her colleagues as having an indomitable spirit and truly epitomizing the heart and soul of their group. Many community members depend on her in many ways—she is the building maven, she shops and cooks for all of the Center’s events and does outreach, organizing and fundraising. She did all of this while living with terrible leg pain and she eventually used a scooter to help her get around the city. One day Maria was hit in a crosswalk and her scooter was completely demolished. Luckily, the Center for Independent Living (CIL) took advantage of our Repair Fund and was able to give Maria another scooter for free. Maria’s group wrote a note of thanks to the Repair Fund and CIL, stating: “We are all thankful for this gift of a scooter for Maria because it allows her to still get around. You have given her back her legs. It is so important that we all care for one another in this world. The work you do is very important.”

Faustino from Riverside County with his power wheelchair

Faustino has Multiple Sclerosis and was losing his ability to walk on his own or to stay steady on two feet. He was trying to find a power wheelchair to assist him in completing numerous daily tasks that were increasingly becoming more difficult for him. Luckily, the Community Access Center (CAC) in Riverside County had just recently refurbished a power wheelchair using the Repair Fund grant that they were able to give to Faustino. He was grateful for the Repair Fund and CAC. With his disability, even walking a short distance made him feel tired. Now, with his reused wheelchair, he is not dependent on others to get out and be active in his community.

The need for the Repair Fund is acute. Every month the AT Network receives between 80-100 inquiries from Californians with disabilities searching for AT funding assistance. Without the Repair Fund, our partner organizations have no money to purchase parts needed to repair items that have been donated for reuse. California has an enormous unmet need for AT repair and reuse, particularly for durable medical equipment like wheelchairs and scooters that can cost $20,000 or more. Help us win $10,000 by voting for our project today and every day until August 11, 2013!