Lets Help Katie get a New Wheelchair Van

Hi, my name is Katina and I am fundraising for Katie:

When Katie Lincoln was born, her parents were told she would die before her 1st birthday. She is a miracle because she will celebrate her 27th birthday this year. She’s cheated death so many times by her sheer will and God’s amazing grace.

Today, she is a strong, and fiercely independent young woman who refuses to be defined by the wheelchair she is confined to or the Muscular Dystrophy diagnosis she has been given.

She briefly studied graphic design at Liberty University but had to defer due to the severity of her disability. She cannot work a traditional job because she has a tracheotomy (a tube in her throat) and uses a ventilator at night. For her, it’s quite the “pain in the neck.” Instead, she works as an independent graphic artist ( primarily self taught) for a small local business from her home and makes custom Christmas cards for a handful of clients each year.

In 2017, her parent’s purchased her a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan Braun-ability conversion van. It has served her well. Two years ago, body rust began to surface and the doors began to stop working. Her parents took out a loan to make repairs and fixed the van doors and the rust.

During a trip home to GA, a fender bender occurred taking out Katie’s only exit out of the van and damaging the ramp making her exit extreme difficult and preventing her independence. The repairs to the door / ramp alone would be $4000.00. While it is now functional, it is an inconvenience so they opted not to make those repairs.

Last year, the van stopped working so they repaired it but it caused a financial hardship and cost almost 3K. Katie is on a fixed income (SSI) and cannot afford the constant repairs.

Currently, the van will not start. Our trusted mechanic states that it will be more than $2000 if he can find the part needed and he does not recommend repairing it because the van will continue to be a money pit.

Katie lives in a rural area and needs a vehicle to access necessary medical interventions. At this point, they need to raise the money to purchase a new wheelchair van. There are no local (Vermont) organizations to assist and no grant money currently available. Please help my niece raise the money needed to purchase a “new to her” wheelchair van.

If you cannot donate, please share so this reaches as many people as possible. Also, maybe it will reach a dealership who might help or the owner of a van that would be willing to donate. Anything at all helps.

Thank you in advance.

Katina Smith