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Ruth applied to the Michigan Assistive Technology Loan Fund in November 2004. She was worried she would lose her job in the catalog department of a local clothing store because she could no longer drive a typical car. Her loan allowed her to borrow money to purchase a van, which was modified with a wheelchair lift with funds from Michigan Rehabilitation Services.
The van gets Ruth to work and back safely and easily, and she no longer worries she’ll lose her job. Ruth also enjoys the ability to get out and volunteer with senior citizens. Her lifelong dream has been to visit the Mackinaw Bridge, which is now a reality with her adapted van.
In January 2004, Christine applied for a loan from the Loan Fund to buy a mini-van that could be modified to fit her granddaughter Crystal’s electric wheelchair. Crystal has cerebral palsy and needed a modified van so she could participate in activities typical of a girl her age.
With a loan from the Michigan Assistive Technology Loan Fund, they bought the van, and Michigan Children’s Special Health Care Services modified it with a lift for the wheelchair. Now Crystal has the freedom and independence to do the things she loves. Their loan is an example of the Loan Fund’s collaboration with other agencies to provide much-needed assistive technology to people with disabilities.
In November 2004 Karen, who has a visual impairment, applied for a loan for a Merlin with a 20-inch monitor. A Merlin is a machine that magnifies both color and black and white images from 4x to 72x their original size. Without the Merlin, Karen couldn’t do small things to occupy her time. Now, she uses the Merlin to read recipe cards, look at photos – and to read the baseball radio schedule in the paper each day. She finds out when her favorite teams are playing and listens to the games for entertainment.
Karen is also an avid coin collector. Before, she couldn’t see coins she collected closely enough to evaluate them; now she uses the monitor and can tell quickly whether a coin is valuable. She loves her new device and finds it to be more helpful than she ever imagined.
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