The facts:
- 96% of Wheelchair users do not have access to a wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV). That creates an addressable opportunity of 1.9 million
- 45% of the country does not have access to public transportation
- Individuals with disabilities are 50% less likely to have education beyond high school
- Individuals with disabilities are 150% more likely to be below the poverty line
A wheelchair-accessible vehicle is a gateway to the outside world to improve these statistics. It is amazing to me that there is an opportunity to double the WAV industry by serving only 92% of the addressable population. This is stunning!
Execution
My father once told me, “When all is said and done, much more often, more is said than done.” I am sure he did not come up with that, but those words always stuck with me. As we began Bridge To Mobility (B2M), I wanted to make sure that was not the case for our organization. We are the only charity that is solely focused on assisting wheelchair users of all demographics in getting a wheelchair-accessible vehicle if the last dollar funding is the constraint. We believe in the principles and benefits of NMEDA (quality, safety, reliability, QAP and MQAP, and after-the-sales support) for our mutual clients and restrict our grants to NMEDA dealers.
A little bit about Bridge to Mobility for those not familiar with our organization. We are a nonprofit 501(c)3 that is a result of the collaborative effort of NMEDA members, suppliers, financial service providers, lenders, and other service providers. Our mission is to Accelerate Accessibility by providing last dollar funding grants to enable wheelchair users to get a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV). We have over 40 volunteers that make this happen. Many of these people will be at the AutoMobility Expo in KC as will we. Make sure you stop by our booth to join our Mission Team and visit our seminar at the Expo where we will be discussing “the right thing to do.”
Execution
Execution – We have provided over 70 grants totaling $350K enabling wheelchair users to get a WAV. We have assisted wheelchair users in the US and Canada. We have helped veterans, single moms, entrepreneurs, adaptive athletes, students, caregivers, and families. We have improved medical outcomes, employment outcomes, community, and family engagement. All this has been done with the NMEDA community and our nonprofit partners, a list that continues to grow for both.
Impact
There are so many wheelchair users that the NMEDA community impacts every day. We as a partner participate in this story and help make the difficult more possible. The words I hear from our grant recipients most often is “life changing.” We wanted to share a few of these stories.
- Appalachian Bees and Balms is now back in business. Ilderton Conversions, our mission- aligned nonprofit partner Help Hope Live, and B2M made sure of that after Adam hit a deer and resultant insurance coverage was far short of the required modifications and cost of the replacement WAV. Adam is back to running the business and volunteering in the community.
- Lauren is a single mother who has fostered and adopted four disabled children. Working with MobilityWorks, we were able to help Lauren get these children to medical appointments, therapies, school, family vacations, and trips Lauren believes are so important for them. They love the ocean and the beach!
- We have two young students pursuing their degrees and follow-up careers in Quebec and British Columbia thanks to Eureka Solutions and Alliance Mobility Solutions in Canada.
- In Hawaii, we worked with Soderholm Mobility to get Marco out of the house for the first time in three years to engage with his family which included 5 children and 19 grandchildren.
Every grant and dealer we worked with had a story that is equally impactful to the recipient, dealer, family, and community.
Just like NMEDA, and thanks to NMEDA, we are everywhere! Here are the locations of grant recipients and we just started in Q4 2023.
Partnerships
Many dealers have joined us. All are welcome and our execution is bringing new dealers to our organization. We are extremely excited at expanding these dealer relationships at the 2024 AutoMobility Expo. One dealer, after learning what we do and seeing the impact, said it is “just the right thing to do “. We could not agree more.
B2M has also forged significant partnerships with nonprofits. Working together with these Mission- Aligned nonprofits, we are synergistically accomplishing our mission and theirs. This list of nonprofits continues to grow. These partnerships include:
- Help Hope Live
- Operation Triage
- Help Our Military Heroes
- Operation Injured Soldier
- Team Joseph
- Walking Strong
- Variety Children’s Charity
- YouthChallenge
- Wheelchair Lacrosse USA
- Conquer Paralysis Now
- Keith Howell Mobility Trust
- Muscular Dystrophy Family Foundation
and NMEDA! We will continue to partner with other organizations as our reach expands.
Return
Besides being the “right thing to do,” we can provide both tangible and intangible returns to the NMEDA community.
An investment in B2M has significant returns. Join us by contributing or volunteering to join the cause. We have over 150 locations supporting the B2M through employee payroll contributions which are 100% matched by our board for 2024. We have a number of dealers who are contributing a portion on every WAV sale, creating a sustainable funding source and allowing us to viably pursue outside grants.
Over 70% of our inquiries to Bridge to Mobility are referred to NMEDA dealers to get the process started. These individuals have given up on getting a WAV. We restart the process through referral and association with other nonprofits. B2M is creating a lead.
As the dealer completes the application for the beneficiary, we begin the process toward approval. The dealer is building goodwill as he works through the acquisition process. When a grant is approved, we should be closing a deal for the dealership that would not have been possible without this last dollar funding grant. The dealer now has a new customer.
B2M can make closing difficult deals more possible. Often, we improve equity to make financing possible and more affordable, furthering customer goodwill for the dealer.
Working with the NMEDA dealer, we collectively enable and empower wheelchair users which increases engagement in medical outcomes, educational outcomes, employment outcomes, eases caregiver tasks to a degree, and increases family and community engagement. These intangible returns cannot be measured, but they do exist. They are tangible for the recipient, as well as for B2M, dealers, and the NMEDA community. These outcomes are extremely positive, and it feels exceptionally good.
The implementation of a strategic sustainable funding plan combining our donors, NMEDA employees, NMEDA dealers and third-party grants, will provide these tangible and intangible returns. An investment in B2M can also yield a financial return in the range of 40-140% for the NMEDA dealers. We will be discussing this at the AutoMobility Expo. We look forward to Accelerate Accessibility with you at the Expo!
To learn more about Bridge to Mobility check their website www.bridgetomobility.org or social media accounts https://www.linkedin.com/company/92596082 and https://www.facebook.com/bridgetomobility
