Blogs

5/11/10

Sunrise Medical, manufacturer of Quickie wheelchairs, has once again signed on as a platinum sponsor for the “What’s Your Handicap?” Golf Classic. We have been fortunate to have a great relationship with Pat Mead, the Sunrise Medical representative for the Grand Rapids area for many years.

Pat has generously donated a nearly brand new manual wheelchair to Alternatives in Motion each year for the past six years. Pat’s contributions have been valued at over $8,500 and the donated wheelchairs have helped numerous individuals with their unmet mobility needs.  

Sunrise Medical is one of the world's largest manufacturers of homecare and extended care products. Founded in 1983, the Sunrise Medical family of products has been built from many of the most popular brands in the homecare industry including Quickie, Sopur, Jay, DeVilbiss, Hoyer, Guardian, Coopers, Oxford and Joerns.

We would like to thank Pat for his continued dedication and support of our mission. Together we are Moving People Forward!

~
Matt Chapman
Director of Marketing & Special Events

3/2/10

Planning for the 14^th Annual Wheel Run Together is well under way with over 100 registered participants and counting. This annual 5k and 10k race has contributed over $47,000 for Alternatives in Motion in the last 12 years and organizers of this year’s event expect to make that number climb into the $50,000+ range.

What makes this event unlike our other fundraisers is that it is entirely planned by second year students in the Physical Therapy program at Grand Valley State University. Balancing an already full load of doctoral course work and clinical experience, these students have made it a priority to continue the Wheel Run Together tradition that has been established by their peers.

We are especially proud of this year’s planning committee as they have secured more sponsorship dollars, recruited more runners, and are on track to raise more money than ever before. Money generated from the 14^th Annual Wheel Run Together will assist us with our wheelchair refurbishment and repair efforts so that we can continue giving the gift of mobility to the people who need it most.

Bring the entire family and join us on Saturday April 17, 2010 on the Allendale campus of GVSU. Even if you’re not a runner you can participate in the 5k or 1-mile fun walks. Thanks for helping us Move People Forward!

Register for the 14th Annual Wheel Run Together Today!

 ~Matt Chapman
Director of Marketing & Special Events 

3/8/10

The last week and a half has been interesting in terms of mobility impairments for our staff. It seemed like all of us, for one reason or another, had problems with transportation. 

It all started when Liz noticed her car was overheating and the heat wasn’t working properly. She dropped the car off to her mechanic where they diagnosed and repaired a crack in the radiator. During the repair, she had to arrange for alternative transportation with her son so she could get to and from work.

With Liz’s problem resolved, Johnnie’s wheelchair decided it was next to go on the fritz. I came into the office last Tuesday morning to find Johnnie stuck in his van in the parking lot. One of the main fuses on his Permobil Street power wheelchair blew and he was stranded. We pushed the chair into the office and I went to work trying to find the problem. After a few phone calls to the Permobil tech support department we found the fuse in question and replaced it with the hope of the chair being fixed. The chair powered up and immediately blew the fuse again. Bummer.

As soon as we determined one of the three main logic boards went bad I took a trip down to the warehouse to dig though boxes of used parts. To my amazement, we had two of the same logic boards that were donated by a former vender. I replaced the bad logic board with a new one and fired the chair back up hoping to have the problem resolved. The fuse didn’t blow but we only had 50% functionality of the chair. After a few more hours of troubleshooting, I changed the last of the wiring on the logic board and regained 100% functionality of the chair. I put everything back together, placed Johnnie back in the chair, and felt pretty satisfied I solved such a technical problem.

With Johnnie back up and running, I headed to Traverse City for a beautiful weekend of skiing in Northern Michigan while George took a trip to Hillsdale College for parent’s weekend. As I was preparing to return to Grand Rapids on Sunday morning my car started acting up and I lost all power. Thankfully I found a repair shop that was open and agreed to look at my car. A few hours later I received a text message from George that he lost the steering on his van and had to drive his daughter’s car back to Grand Rapids. Obviously it was our weekend for car troubles. Thankfully the fix was simple and affordable for both of us and we had our vehicles back limited interruption to our normal lives.

My point is you don’t realize how much you rely on something until it is gone. Car troubles put three of us out of commission for a few days and forced us to call on others for our transportation needs. Sure it was a little inconvenient but we were lucky enough to have other alternatives.

Unfortunately we meet people who are stuck in difficult situations like this everyday. Some people have nothing and are in need of the most basic manual wheelchair on the market just so they can get out of the house and get their mail. Others have a wheelchair they received second-hand but are stranded when it brakes down and they can’t afford the repair bill. Thankfully Alternatives in Motion has evolved into an organization that provides more than just wheelchairs. Over the last four years we have developed an extensive inventory of used wheelchair parts and have acquired necessary knowledge and equipment needed to make routine repairs. Having the ability to make these repairs in-house allows us to operate on a leaner budget, be better stewards of donor dollars, and means we can help keep people on the path to independence.

Help us fulfill our mission by making a tax-deductible donation today! Click the “Donate Now” button on the top of this page and help move someone forward.

 ~Matt Chapman
Director of Marketing & Special Events

2/18/2010

In May of 2009 a group of creative professionals saw an opportunity to help local organizations and businesses get recognized and acknowledged. They named themselves the Grand Rapids Social Diary and in a short amount of time have rounded up over 3,000 facebook fans and have covered nearly every major event Grand Rapids has to offer.

On Thursday February 4, 2010 The Grand Rapids Social Diary stopped by The Essence of Olive Oil to cover the experience and share this unique event with West Michigan residents. Reporter Chris Koens did a fantastic job of capturing the feelings and emotions of our guests and Tim Motley, of Motleycatstuido.com, was on hand with his camera creating digital memories we will never forget.

The Full Story: The Essence of Olive Oil - A benefit for Alternatives in Motion

I personally became a facebook fan of Grand Rapids Social Diary a few weeks ago and I enjoy their daily pictures and posts about events you don’t typically see on the news. Grand Rapids is bustling with activity and the Social Diary is doing a top-notch job of promoting what makes this city so special. 

Thank you to the Grand Rapids Social Diary for helping us Move People Forward!

~Matt Chapman 
Director of Marketing & Special Events

2/12/10

Vivian Riveria was one of our first wheelchair recipients in 1995 when she was just two-years old. After outgrowing her first chair, we helped Vivian a second time in early 2,000. Late last summer we were contacted by our friends at Healing the Children of Michigan, the organization that has provided financial support to bring Vivian to Grand Rapids in the past. They informed us that Vivian was in need of another manual wheelchair as her chair was nearly 10-years old and no longer fitting properly. 

Alternatives in Motion teamed up with Healing the Children to make Vivian’s dream for a better fitting manual wheelchair a reality. The initial fundraising to partly cover the cost of a new wheelchair was done through Healing the Children. Through our strong local connection with Carelinc Home Medical we identified a few wheelchairs that met Vivian’s mobility needs and fit our established budget. From there, everyone involved agreed it would be best for Vivian to come to Grand Rapids for a professional fitting and evaluation.

Again, Healing the Children stepped up to the plate and provided a flight to Grand Rapids and housing for Vivian with a host family. A few hours after arriving at the airport, Vivian showed up at Carelinc Home Medical for her evaluation. Despite trying several different wheelchairs and hours of adjustments, we couldn’t find a chair that fit properly. As much as we all wanted to send Vivian back to Guatemala in a brand new chair, we knew it would be better for Vivian to have a custom built wheelchair.  

Carelinc took the custom measurements and had a chair made that was exactly what Vivian needed.   As Vivian and her family were anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new wheelchair, Healing the Children was working with their volunteers to arrange the wheelchair’s “delivery” to Guatemala. The wheelchair arrived just before Christmas! This week we received a picture of Vivian in her new chair, a chair that should last her many years to come.

Thanks to Healing the Children of Michigan and Carelinc Home Medical we were able to work together to solve Vivian’s mobility issues so she can keep moving forward!

~Matt Chapman
Director of Marketing & Special Events