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I need help, but I'm willing to help as well.  I'm a single mom - my kids are grown - and now I am suffering from pulmonary fibrosis and myelodysplastic syndrome (a bone marrow cancer).  Both of these are terminal - according to research, the pulmonary fibrosis (NSIP) has a 90% 5 year survival, but that drops to 40% after 5 years; and the MDS (myelodysplaystic syndrome) has a survival of 3-4 years. 

I obtained a 'powerchair' last month, and now all I need is a minivan to transport it and my oxygen systems in order to travel and visit my grandkids (last time I saw them was last fall when my daughter came to Detroit from Chicagoland, and the day after she arrived I ended up in the hospital - again (my 5th in 2 months) with pneumonia, so needless to say, we didn't have a lot of time together!

I need this van in order to get around town as well - it's getting harder and harder for me to use the walker - I get short of breath more and more readily...I can walk about 150 feet before I start to 'desat' (o2 level in blood drops), so the use of the powerchair for doing stuff outside of the home would be fantastic.  Yes, they have a bus system, but it's not comprehensive, and does not run all the times I need it to run, or where I want to run to - my docs are in another county, and the system only runs the county I'm in.  Right now, my daughter has to struggle to shove my wheelchair into a 2-door chevy cavalier (if you know how small THAT is, you'll know what I mean!).  Needless to say, I got the cavalier years before i got sick! :)

 My REAL dream is next year to drive to IL to visit my grandkids then onto NE to see my mom, whom I haven't seen since 1999.  She, too, is ill, and I'm not certain that either of us would be able to see each other after next year (heck I'm not totally certain I'll be able to travel next year, but i can dream, can't I?).  I need to carry the powerchair, a wheelchair (for places where the powerchair is too big), a walker,two oxygen machine components, and of course, us and luggage.

I've worked for many years as secretary and computer tech, and can still do some computer tech work - including web design, when I have the energy.  I'm not totally looking for a 'free lunch' - I CAN afford payment of $125/month - maybe $150.  I just don't have a big amount of money for downpayment and/or full payment.  Almost 100% of my debt is medical bills, so my credit is crushed

Hello to all of you! 

I am brand new to AidPage, but I will try my best to express my needs: here we go!

My name is Reynaldo and I have Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.  I created a nonprofit organization, www.aspergeradvocacy.org, to advocate for those with my disorder, especially adults for whom at the time they were children no help or information was available about this disorder.  In addition to having Asperger's syndrome I have spinal stenosis, thus, limited mobility, whereby I use a power chair.  I live alone with my dog Ginger.

Recently, after many years of fighting for my Social Security benefits, I have finally received them.  The first objective that I met was to get permanent housing.  Now I live in an apartment under a section 8 housing choice voucher.  After living in Florida for over 35 years, specifically Palm Beach County, I am now living in Kershaw County, South Carolina.  I moved here because this is where they issued a voucher for me much quicker than any other housing authority to which I applied for a voucher.  This was a move I do not regret!

Instead of going on a waiting list in Florida, which would have taken many years for my name to come up, I was issued a voucher instantly in South Carolina.  Of course I had to move over here in order to use that voucher, somethign I didn't mind.  My plans are to stay in South Carolina, or anywhere where it is not too warm and not too cold.

Because of my disorder, characterized by behaviors often misunderstood and the result of adverse stimuli, I had been the target of bullying by several of my neighbors here, who themselves have disabilities ranging from bipolar disorder to mental deterioration because of age. 

I did not know what to expect when I initially moved here to South Carolina.  While it is considered the sixth most dangerous states in the United States (FBI, 2006), most of the longtime residents here have raised families for many generations, and in essence are quite comfortable.  About 70% of the population here are chubby and very content with their Southern cooking and hospitality.  I have gotten to know many people here and am glad that I made the move as though I didn't really have any other choice.

The area in which I live is rural.  There's only one bus that comes through here, and it only comes twice a week, very early in the morning, and once in the evening during those days.  Because of my disability and situation, I have to depend upon a paratransit vehicle, which can be expensive as they charge more money based on the fact that I'm a wheelchair user.  I had been volunteering in a social service agency that provides energy and rental assistance to those in need.  But because of lack of transportation and more medical issues (now I'm diabetic as of December, 2007), I had to quit my volunteer position.

I believe that by having a decent vehicle I can be able to reach out to people farther to be able to assist them in their special-needs.  I therefore am wishing for a vehicle: either a minivan or a large vehicle with a power chair/scooter ramp to accomplish this.