Page 16 - Mobility Management, July 2018
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AbleCloset Event Helps Families Discover New Possibilities
Customized seating, positioning and wheeled mobility equipment for kids is typically custom fit to each child and often is custom fabricated. That process isn’t just expensive — it can also be lengthy. And that waiting process can feel interminable to the affected children and their families.
To address those needs, Kelly Steitz — who has a daughter with cerebral palsy — and Julie Bursey, DPT, founded AbleCloset, a Northern California non-profit that acts as a “library” to loan equipment to families who have children with special needs. AbleCloset’s inventory includes stroller-style wheelchairs, bath chairs, activity chairs, gait trainers, standers, manual wheelchairs with tilt, and recreation equipment.
AbleCloset’s equipment is typically provided by fami- lies who no longer need it. Families with special needs children, regardless of income levels, can borrow equip- ment for up to 6 months at no cost.
To help families learn about and try out different types of equipment, AbleCloset hosted a “Demo Day” in March, Steitz said: “It was free for the public to attend, and we had nearly 200 people register.”
A Community Gathering
While the goal of Demo Day was education, community participation — plus support from several complex rehab organizations and businesses — also made the day festive and fun for visiting families.
“Canine Companions brought their dogs and educated the community about how to apply to get a service dog,” Steitz said. “Freedom Concepts drove down from Canada to let people try their bikes. Variety NorCal provided free childcare, offering balloons, bubbles,
a comfy place to relax in a [Freedom Concepts] Chill-Out Chair, and they managed our adaptive bike obstacle course! Fenixia Foundation, AbleCloset’s partner, is sending used equipment to the Philippines and came down to meet people. Some local vendors, like Movement Horizons, showed up to talk about their services. We had a table staffed by experts on how to get equipment funding.”
National Seating & Mobility’s San Jose, Calif., office, led by Branch Manager Jeff Decker, ATP/SMS, CRTS, CPST, provided free equipment repairs, which Steitz described as “a favorite for everybody.”
As the event’s sponsor, Convaid|R82, demo’d
equipment and also provided lunch: sliders, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese from Meadowlark Café, a local restaurant.
Nearly 200 people registered for the free Demo Day, which NSM’s Jeff Decker says will become a yearly event (Decker, incidentally, recently moved to Texas and joined NSM’s Houston branch). m
Write to Editor Laurie Watanabe (lwatanabe@1105media. com) for info on how your complex rehab event can be published here.
Canine Com- panions service experts were on the job
(and looking photogenic) at the AbleCloset event.
National Seating & Mobility (in- cluding Branch Manager Jeff Decker, far
left) provided free checkups and repairs for attendees’ equipment.
Convaid|R82 gave product demos and sponsored the free lunch for attendees.
     14 JULY2018|MOBILITYMANAGEMENT
MobilityMgmt.com
ABLECLOSET IMAGES: COURTESY ABLECLOSET & KELLY STEITZ












































































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