This is a hot-button issue for every wheelchair user, and the reactions are all over the map . . . from outright hostility to treating it as a “teachable moment.”  What do you do when it happens?  If you had the chance to teach the public that these extra-large spaces are a necessity and not a luxury, how would you go about it?

As part of our 40th Anniversary celebration, BraunAbility is sponsoring a “Respect Blue Spaces” contest on our Facebook page. Send us a catchy slogan or concept that will make someone think twice before parking in a blue parking space. Make it funny or serious, polite or inject a little attitude . . . just make it noticable and memorable. We’ll select the top three entries and our Facebook fans will vote for their favorite.  The winner will receive $1,000 cash, and we’ll also donate $1,000 to the disability-related cause of their choice.  You have ’til May 10, 2012 to enter. Go here to see the rest of the rules and submit your entry:

Enter the Respect Blue Spaces Contest

Your slogan may end up on bumper stickers, window clings, t-shirts and a few other places we haven’t even thought of yet! Good luck!!

Joe Sprouse won second place for his Social Studies Fair project on Ralph Braun's handicap vans and wheelchair lifts.

We received some pretty awesome fan mail this past week from Joe Sprouse, an 11-year-old from Parksersburg, West Virginia, who recently received second place in his elementary school’s social study fair for his project on Ralph Braun and his impact on the world of mobility.

“I’ve always been fascinated by my aunt’s wheelchair van,” said the 5th grader. Joe’s aunt actually lives with him and his family, so for much of his life, Joe has had an Entervan in his family’s garage.

“I used to sneak out of my bedroom at night and go out to the driveway and get in the handicap van. I’d hit the button and watch the ramp fold and unfold, fold and unfold,” said Joe. “It was like a spaceship.”

When it came time to pick a social studies fair project, the 5th grader knew he’d be exhibiting about his favorite inventor, Ralph Braun. He started by reading Ralph’s autobiography, Rise Above. He learned everything he could from the website, and when he had some questions, he started a “live chat” with a Customer Experience Group representative, Carmen Mendoza, who helped him find other research resources.

Joe was rewarded for his work with a second place trophy (in case you’re wondering, first place went to The Geography of Epcot Center).  He sent a photo to his new friend, Carmen who in turn sent them to me and suggested we share Joe’s accomplishment with Mr. Braun and our customers too.

“I used to sneak out of my bedroom at night and go out to the driveway and get in the van. I’d hit the button and watch the ramp fold and unfold, fold and unfold,” said Joe. “It was like a spaceship.”

When I gave Joe a call to let him know we’d like to share his story on our blog, he was pretty (really) excited. For starters, he had a few product development ideas he asked me to pass along to Ralph. And would I mind putting his name in the running for an internship when he’s a little older?

If he’s able to keep his enthusiasm for learning and looking for ways to make life better for others, who knows? Maybe he’ll be a member of our engineering department some day! Joe would be happy to know that he shares a lot in common with another young entrepreneur who changed accessibility for the world about 60 years ago.

Frank Maguire received the keys to a BraunAbility Entervan, the third veteran to be the owner of the van that is continually paid forward to another veteran.

Last spring we shared a touching story about former Marine Charles Greenwald, 74, who purchased a BraunAbility Entervan when he began using a power chair due to his progressive MS. When the time came to purchase a new wheelchair van, he wanted to donate his vehicle to a fellow veteran who could not afford his own mobility.

With the help of Roland Grundmann of Ride-Away in Hartford, CT, a deserving young man was located: 92-year-old Bert Francouer. The WWII veteran was not eligible for mobility assistance and had relied on sporadic transportation from the VA hospital where he resided. The two veterans had never met until they exchanged keys at Ride-Away. An incredibly grateful Francouer and family promised Charles that day that when their time with the wheelchair van came to an end, they would pay his generous gift forward to another veteran.

Sadly, that time came this past December when Bert Francouer passed away. The family called Ride-Away and asked Roland if he could help find a deserving veteran in need of greater mobility. With the help of the local VA office, Roland found the perfect candidate, Korean War veteran Frank Maguire.

Frank, now 79, served in Korea from 1949-52. He and his “buddies” spent an entire year crossing the cold Korean terrain, blasting foxholes with grenades to escape the cold for days at a time. At the end of this journey he found himself at an outpost, Pusan air strip, and that’s where an MIG fighter plane greeted the six soldiers and targeted the small troop. The blast killed all five of his friends and set Frank’s body on fire. He shared part of the story with a veteran publication two years ago:

“I noticed the flesh hanging from my arm and finally realized I had been burned. I never passed out or became unconscious. They quickly put me in a “meat wagon” and took me to headquarters where I was flown out to get medical attention. Seventy-five percent of my body had been burned, and 65% of it was second and third degree burns.”

The van's original donation between Charles Greenwald and Bert Francouer in 2010.

He was rehabilitated and flown stateside, but those injuries started a thread of hospital stays for Maguire’s entire life. He eventually lost part of his leg, and later began requiring 24-hr care. Since 2008 he has been confined to veterans homes. Aside from one journey to Wal-Mart and a trip to a family Christmas over the holidays (his daughter, Robin, had to pay $700 for an ambulance to transport him), he’s never left the Rocky Hills Veterans Home since his admission.

But now, thanks to the wheelchair van that keeps on giving, those days are over, and for the first time in years, he and his daughter were going to go out to lunch.

And, like the owners before him, Frank vows the vehicle will be paid forward to the next veteran when that time comes.

Well, he wasn't EXACTLY on the cover of TIME, but Tim Ilderton did earn a distinction as a finalist for the magazine's 2012 Dealer of the Year award.

We’d like to take a moment to brag about one of our longtime dealers and friends, Tim Ilderton, who was named as one of four regional finalist for the 2012 TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year, one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious honors. The recipients are among the nation’s most successful auto dealers, and in order to be recognized, they must demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Ilderton was one of only 50 auto dealers named as a finalist out of 17,000 nationwide.

We know Tim Ilderton best for his leadership of Ilderton Conversion Company, but since 1926, the family has also run Ilderton Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, a general auto dealership in High Point, North Carolina– and that dual-dealership is distinguishing quality from other nominees. Very few mainstream car dealerships have made an investment in the mobility market; and of those who have, very few have done it as well as Ilderton. Braun started its partnership with Ilderton in 1972, making this one of the oldest Braun-dealer relationships in our industry. Today the family-owned dealership is representing the BraunAbility brand in three locations in  North & South Carolina.

Ilderton Conversion is exceptionally passionate and committed to their customers. In fact, for the past 24 consecutive years, Ilderton has received BraunAbility’s President’s Club Award for exceptional customer service. And it’s obvious that the family tradition of customer care and concern has been instilled in each generation.

We are extremely grateful to have such a dedicated, service-oriented leader representing our products and taking care of customers like he and his family and staff have over the past 40 years. Congratulations to Tim and everyone at Ilderton Conversion for their tremendous work!

Nominate a Local Hero who deserves a new wheelchair van!

If you haven’t heard yet, May is the inaugural  National Mobility Awareness Month. Sure, it may feel like there’s an awareness month for every cause, but we are (obviously) incredibly excited about this one.

For one thing, it’s long overdue. While we live and breathe mobility at BraunAbility, we take for granted that the rest of the world knows that products like our accessible vehicles and lifts exist. For most of our customers, owning a wheelchair van isn’t something that’s anticipated. When the day comes that they need a new way to get on the road, they don’t always know where to turn.

The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) is working to change that with its promotion of Mobility Awareness Month. With the help of BraunAbility and other mobility equipment and automotive manufacturers, NMEDA will be awarding brand new mobility equipment to deserving individuals through its Local Heroes contest.

How does it work? Simply submit the deserving story of a local hero – either written or via video – who deserves the gift of mobility. Stories will be accepted beginning March 18th through May 13th. The local heroes will be awarded the keys to their driving freedom in May. You can find more details here.

You’ll be hearing plenty more about Mobility Awareness Month and the Local Heroes contest on our Facebook page. In the mean time, please share this blog with any local heroes that you might know!

The staff at Carolina Mobility, the Kerns family, and their new wheelchair van!

Last June, Jack and Betsy Kerns  met with E.J. Dulina, a senior mobility consultant at Carolina Mobility Sales in Charlotte, N.C. The Kerns were in need of a wheelchair accessible van for their son, John Ross. As he’s gotten older, it’s become a little more difficult to transport him in and out of the family car to get to school, doctor visits and therapy appointments.

Those regular transfers were especially taxing on his mother, Betsy, who suffers from chronic back pain. As a father of a son who is also a wheelchair user, E.J. Dulina has a personal understanding of mobility challenges. “I get it,” shared Dulina. “I live it in my personal life and I understand the needs of other families.”

That understanding was obvious to Betsy as well. “When we met with E.J., I knew I had met a consultant who cared,” she said. “He was well trained and he had experience. He was concerned for John Ross and his needs, but he also understood that we as a family wanted to travel together. E.J. vowed to help us solve our mobility needs, and he did!”

With Dulina’s help the Kerns family apply for assistance grants, loans and state programs – and unfortunately the family was denied several times. But when Dulina heard that the Ralph Braun Foundation was offering grants of up to $5000 off the price of mobility equipment for any qualifying family or individual, he and Betsy worked on an application right away.

Dulina also realized that Braun was offering another $1111.11 for any military veteran toward the purchase of a BraunAbility wheelchair accessible van in commemoration of Veterans Day. Because Jack Kerns is a vet, this additional discount seemed serendipitous! Dulina and Betsy moved ahead and applied for a loan to cover the balance needed.

In December, the Kerns family were informed they were one of 14 recipients of a Ralph Braun Foundation grant award. The Kerns family drove off in their 2011 Chrysler Entervan conversion on Christmas Eve. Perhaps, they crossed paths with Santa… who knows? What the Kerns family does know is that Santa couldn’t possibly bring a present greater than the gift of mobility.

The Ralph Braun Foundation recently finished its first grant program, which funded up to 25% of the total mobility transportation equipment (a maximum grant of $5,000). Several different projects were funded and the grantees were asked to send their story of what the grant meant to them. Please visit the Ralph Braun Foundation’s website to learn about future programs. 

Nonprofits can choose any vehicle in Toyota’s line-up, including a Sienna van converted with a BraunAbility conversion. Last year five BraunAbiliity Rampvans were given to deserving nonprofits, and another 10 organizations requested Toyota’s AutoAccess seat installed for their vehicles. That means that in total 15% of the 100 donated vehicles were installed with mobility equipment of some sort – a telling statistic of a nationwide need for mobility!

Organizations can apply by submitting an application on the Toyota 100 Cars for Good Facebook page beginning March 12. Applications will be accepted for two weeks or until 5,000 applications have been received. Winners will be determined each day by popular vote. The organization receiving the most votes at the end of the day will receive the vehicle of their choice. The four remaining organizations will each receive a $1,000 cash prize.

We know you know some deserving disability-related causes who could use a BraunAbility Rampvan! Please share this post and help us spread the news!

The ADA Team at the Houston Auto ShowThe 2012 Houston Auto Show brings the automotive world to Texas ever year. With over half a million square feet of showroom space at the Reliant Center, consumers across the region have the chance to see, touch, drive and experience the automotive industry's latest offerings - including the latest in accessible vans.For the ninth year in a row, the team at Adaptive Driving Access showcased BraunAbility mobility products at this premier venue.

With over 500,000 visitors, the Houston Autoshow is a great opportunity to show the general public what automotive choices are available for people with physical disabilities. “We continue to meet new people every year who are amazed by these products and are excited to see these options for their friends and family members,” said ADA owner Tom Poole.

ADA proudly displayed a variety of BraunAbility accessible vans including a Honda Entervan, Toyota Rampvan, Chrysler Entervan XT, Dodge RE CompanionVan and a full size van outfitted with a Braun UVL.

“We hear from people all year long that met us at the show,” said ADA’s General Manager James Norris. “They didn’t need our service at that time, but due to events in their lives…they suddenly need our help.”

Like many BraunAbility customers, the visitors at this show may not think they’ll ever need our product (and hopefully they don’t!), but thanks to efforts like ADA’s in Houston – they’ll at least know these mobility solutions exist.

Our President, Nick Gutwein, spent some time with Mobility Management magazine discussing how society, the mobility industry and our company have evolved in the past 40 years. They talked about Braun’s major milestones in wheelchair vans and wheelchair lifts…as well as plans to make the world more accessible to more people in the decades to come. What unfolded was a very enlightening – and very necessary – reminder of how this industry was born by innovators who – like our founder, Ralph Braun – viewed mobility as a right, not just a convenience.

Click here and read on!

BraunAbility Sales Manager Tim Hargis (third from left) poses with United Access volunteers Bobby Bryson, Laura Klaus and Sam Brenner.

BraunAbility dealers have incredibly close relationships with the professionals who help wheelchair users find the mobility products they deserve and the resources to purchase that equipment. A terrific example of that was shared earlier this month when the crew at United Access in Dallas helped the Texas Rehab ACTion Network organize a fundraiser for a woman named Belinda Kirkland.

Belinda had worked as a DARS (Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services) counselor out of Arlington, Texas for years. She worked tirelessly to help families find a way to overcome all types of disabilities and improve their quality of life. Aside from her work as a counselor, she also served as a secretary of TRAN (Texas RehabACTion Network), where she led several committees and actively worked to advance programs in the workplace for persons with disabilities.

Belinda was diagnosed with a form of t-cell cancer, and the single mother was consequently out of work for several months as she fought the aggressive disease.

Laura Klaus, a member of the United Access team in Dallas, had never met Belinda in person, but through their work with TRAN and planning the fundraiser, Laura felt like Belinda was a friend she’d known for years. As a newcomer to the state in the last year, that friendship was especially helpful to Laura. “Belinda gave so much to me in my short seven months here in Texas,” said Laura. “She guided me through DARS, brought me to TRAN, and always had such positive things to say about how to find my way here.”

Laura and her team of coworkers at United Access planned a very successful fundraiser, an event called “A Benefit for Belinda – a TRAN Chili Cook-Off” held at the world-class Cowboys Stadium. Over 20 teams participated, and well over 200 tasters paid to enjoy the work of the chili chefs and participate in a silent auction. United Access also used the opportunity to train DARS counselors on mobility equipment, from new wheelchair vans to driving equipment.

Unfortunately, as much as all the prayers and the love from her friends and colleagues helped her spirit and her finances, they could not change the course of her disease. Belinda passed away last weekend, and the disability and rehabilitation community lost a tireless advocate and friend.

“The impact she had on so many lives is tremendous – especially for this new Texan,” said Laura. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who were touched by the grace of Belinda and her family.”

We sincerely and deeply appreciate the work and the relationships that Belinda helped build over the course of her career. If you are interested in contributing to her fund, you can contact Laura Klaus at United Access (lklaus@unitedaccess.com, 972.240.8839).