Meet Joyce

Two weeks before the start of ArtPrize 2011 Joyce contacted Alternatives in Motion to see if we could repair a wheelchair she received after a friend passed away. Her insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of the repairs on the chair because they did not initially purchase the chair for her.  Joyce wanted the chair fixed so she could leave her apartment in downtown Grand Rapids and travel to one of the many ArtPrize venues in her neighborhood.

We looked at Joyce’s chair and determined there was a problem with one of the motors, a costly repair that would not have been possible had we not had an inventory of old motors in our warehouse. We replaced the motor and got it back to Joyce just before ArtPrize. Unfortunately, a few weeks later one of the motors again went bad, this time causing permanent damage to the chair. Thankfully a generous family had just donated an almost brand new power wheelchair that was exactly like the one Joyce received from her friend. We recycled her old chair and delivered the new chair to her apartment. Joyce was very happy to have a working chair again and uses it to travel to doctors appointments, restaurants, and the Goodwill store near her home. This is just one more example of how we are “Moving People Forward” through used equipment donations!