March 8, 2000
Seals for Wheels on a roll
Annual Easter Seals fund-raiser nets $20,387 for regional health programs
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Thanks to the Easter Seals, Glen Baldwin was able to get outside the last few months of his life. At 92, the Kingsley resident had been confined to a wheelchair for two years and had rarely even been outside during that time.
When Easter Seals volunteers built a wheelchair ramp onto his house last Labor Day weekend, Baldwin was able to enjoy the warm fall outside on a small porch next to the ramp. Up until the day he died on October 12, he was looking forward to the following spring and spending time outside again.
A wheelchair ramp costs an average of $500-$800, more in the Baldwin's case since a small porch was added. Paying for a wheelchair ramp themselves would not have been possible for Baldwin and his wife, Stella. But once built, the ramp quickly became indispensable to the family.
"The ramp was a real help," said Stella Baldwin, who learned of the Easter Seals ramp-building program from a visiting nurse. "He could get out on the porch and sit in his wheelchair, but before the ramp he could not get outdoors at all. We appreciated it very much and I know I'm going to be using it this summer."
A success story like the Baldwins fulfills the mission of the Easter Seals Society, which last Saturday evening hosted the Eleventh Annual Seals for Wheels Auction at the City Opera House. More than 200 people came to the auction and the $20,387 raised during the evening was a 25 percent increase over last year's total.
The money raised at Saturday night's fund-raiser stays in northern Michigan and will benefit numerous programs in the 24 counties that the Easter Seals Society serves. These programs include: Speech Therapy, Swim Therapy, Scoliosis Screening, Special Needs Car Seats, Wheelchair Clinics and a Medical Equipment Loan Closet. The society also hosts an annual Sibling Day for children who have a close relative with a disability. Last summer alone, the wheelchair ramp building program built a total of 12 ramps for area families.
Programs are not just for adults or people with disabilities. The Scoliosis Screening is aimed at seventh-graders and speech therapy is offered for schoolchildren of all ages.
"Last year we screened 1,601 children in the region for scoliosis and 342 needed secondary screening," said Betty Reynolds, regional director of the Easter Seals Society. "Our speech therapy programs pick up where the schools let off for the summer. This way the kids don't lose ground when school is out for the summer."
Other programs offered by the Easter Seals Society also help fill in the gaps of other human services programs or in insurance policies. Many people do not have the resources to purchase equipment not covered or only partially covered by insurance. The Easter Seals Society's medical equipment loan closet helps people with both short- and long-term needs for a wheelchair, walker, crutches or other special equipment.
Another benefit of the loan closet is that it can also help people try out equipment and see what works for them and in their home. When they are done with the equipment, they can return it to the closet for another person to use.
"If you go out and buy something and it doesn't work for you, it's an expensive waste of money," said Maxine Meach, facilitator of the Parkinson's Support Group in Traverse City. "Maybe your house design or furniture do not work with a type of equipment and the loan closet gives you a little lead time to get the right equipment."