FA Project Blog

At The FA Project, our ultimate goal is to provide those living with Friedreich’s Ataxia the tools and resources necessary to lead the best life possible. In 2010, Rose Chonka and her family contacted us with an interest in donating a power wheelchair to the FA Project. Upon receiving the news, we contacted the FA Clinic at the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital to find a new owner for this wonderful gift. Sure enough, a young Virginia man named Joe Vaughn had been seeking a chair so that he could have more mobility and independence in his life. With our help, we were able to Joe fulfill his wishes. A few months later, we received an email from Joe, who had recently been able to get a job at Wal-Mart with his increased mobility, exclaiming, “The chair is the greatest thing to ever happen to me.”

In 2011, The FA Project received another power chair donation from Jamie Plourde and her family. Reaching out through the FA Project Facebook page, we were able to contact and donate the chair to the Morris family who were seeking a power chair for their daughter Bridget. Very thankful for the donation, the Morris family let us know that Bridget was doing great, sending us a picture of her using her new chair.

This July, the FA Project contacted Accessible Design & Consulting, Inc, a California-based company that specializes in modifying homes and commercial buildings to improve accessibility and independence for seniors and the disabled as well as providing those in need with products to increase mobility and safety. With their help, we were able to acquire a 2007 Jazzy Select Power Chair and send it to a young man with Friedreich’s Ataxia named Geoff Fox (pictured above). Upon its arrival, his mother Marianne informed us that he has been using the chair, riding it around everywhere with a huge smile on his face!