IN SPIRIT Special Needs
Helping George and Joann with the Companion Seat is an example of how IN SPIRIT's Special Needs Program can lend a hand. We offer individualized services to meet personal needs. For instance, in the past year we have assisted with necessities such as an insurance co-pay for a new wheelchair, a wheelchair repair, medication and medical supplies, a portable ramp, a computer, Craigslist ads seeking attendants, and phone and Internet service for two persons residing in a nursing home.
In 1993 Joann was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Her husband George has been her primary caregiver. Joann and George are retired teachers and share a love of the outdoors. Each year they became more confined to home as it became more difficult to get Joann safely into the car. To make outings more possible, IN SPIRIT purchased a Companion Seat to make it easier to lift Joann into the car.George explains, "After years of battling the odds with Parkinson's, Joann was finally toppled by an infection that exacerbated the condition and kept her housebound, even unable to go to church without danger of falling when being transferred (which had happened a few times). I was unable to take her out for shopping, dental care, haircuts -- you name it! The companion seat allows Joann and I to go out together in the community again. We even took a recent pleasure trip to a ghost town in the Sierras"
IN SPIRIT newsletter 2006
Aneice Taylor with Lynn