Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle for Derrick Woods

On July 27, 2022, my husband Derrick (D) & I will celebrated our 20th anniversary. Fourteen of those years have been spent in and out of the hospital and D in a wheelchair. We have 2 beautiful children, Paris and Derrick Jr. D loves God, serving others-especially through cooking, his family, fishing, sports, and traveling. 

He has not been out of the house since he came home from the hospital in March. He cannot physically transfer into a vehicle. We are raising money to purchase a wheelchair van for my hubby. Most importantly, I hope that this will increase the quality of his life…he just turned 46, hopefully we have a lot of life left to live.

On Christmas Day last year, D suffered a stroke that landed him in Neuro rehab for the 3rd time for 3 months. He has spent 11 months in the hospital in the last 2 years. He usually has surgery and bounces back after a couple months but not this time. We’ve dealt with this since 2008 when D was first paralyzed, total healing just does not seem to be God’s plan this time…at least not yet! 

D came home in March a total assist. He uses a mechanical lift to get in and out of bed and our daughter lifts him on and off the toilet and the therapist bathes him. The only time he has any social interaction is from his amazing OT & PT, and the wonderful men in his life group that are so faithful in loving him and pouring into him with Bible studies and weekly visits and us- his wife and kids.

It has taken me months to write this, it is so hard to ask for help because we recognize what God has done in our lives- we are incredibly blessed. We are the helpers! We were convicted several years ago and called to be a family on mission. We love & serve God’s people wherever he calls us- in our church and our community and I know there are others worse off but I believe God is going to show up!

My car is on its last leg and this would be the perfect time to purchase a wheelchair van but it’s so incredibly expensive and the car payment alone would be more than we can afford. We are hoping to raise enough to at least get the payment down to something affordable.

We are desperately seeking a bit of normalcy; church on Sunday, date nights, family vacation, a trip to the grocery store together, a drive to South Haven to watch the sunset.- normal things people in their early 40’s do. You can imagine the toll this has taken on D’s mental health, the strain on our marriage, and our kids. We are asking that you help with whatever you can, share this with EVERYONE you know and encourage people to SHARE…and most of all continue to pray for our family. It’s been a rough couple years.

Thank YOU and God bless you!

In Christ’s love,

♥️ Mel