From the Heart: Embracing the Ability to Enable Others
Thanks to the inspiration of three local men collaborating with the creativity of area educators, 48,000 students in 53 schools are enjoying a fresh approach to Ability Awareness this academic year. Founders of Del Corazon (From-the-Heart), Don Routh, Josh Routh, and Bill Wheeler, support the curriculum with informative videos, personal presentations, and the loan for a week to each participating school of 10 wheelchairs. Children learn to appreciate their own abilities and embrace the challenge of enabling others to realize their full potential. Also known as the Wheelchair Foundation Schools Project, the initiative fosters respect for the strengths of peers coping with intellectual, developmental, and physical challenges, while raising funds to send wheelchair to hundreds of individuals who would otherwise remain immobile.
The Wheelchair Foundation, established by Ken Behring in 2000, provides wheelchairs to people around the world who need but cannot afford a wheelchair. In many countries, a wheelchair costs a worker’s entire annual income. Todate, 955,000 wheelchairs have been delivered, bringing mobility, dignity, and hope to individuals aged two to over 102.
Since Bill Wheeler, founder of Blacktie Transportation, first invited Don and Josh to join him on a Wheelchair Foundation distribution trip, “the Three Amigos” have made 23 distribution trips to 14 Latin American countries, delivering 72,000 wheelchairs. Asked to identify his favorite trip, Josh insists: “All of them!” His father, Don, concurs. Each trip is different, every journey life changing.
Josh demonstrates to wheelchair recipients that their personal goals are achievable. Doctors predicted Josh, born with Cerebral Palsy, would be a quadriplegic incapable of speech. At 31, he spoke his first word: “Soup!” His indefatigable spirit continues to feed his father’s dedication. A graduate of San Ramon Valley High School, Josh relies on a wheelchair for mobility. Now 35, he lives independently, drives his own car to work, and has multiple sports accomplishments to his credit.
In Paraguay, From-the-Heart delivered a wheelchair to another Josh. Seeing his own son in the four-year old also coping with Cerebral Palsy, Don translated his parental experience into a message of hope for the mother. Recalling how grateful he would have been for the advice of a mentor, Don happily shares his experience, encouraging care givers to believe in the possibility that their charges will be, likeJosh, successful adults.
In spring 2012, Don Routh presented the concept of a schools program to Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi. Ahmadi immediately recognized the value. “The potential of this endeavor as a true service learning project was incredible, and it was obvious that the impact to all involved would be profound,” she comments. “The project allows our students to learn and apply their knowledge while serving others globally. “Six PUSD elementary schools participated the following academic year. Six teachers joined a wheelchair distribution tour that summer and all came back as zealous advocates of the program...
Read the full article at the Wheelchair Foundation
(http://wheelchairfoundation.org/blog/from-the-heart-embracing-the-ability-to-enable-others/)
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