Pastor Sarah's New Mini
Donation protected
WHO IS SARAH FLATT?
If you don’t know Sarah Flatt personally, I’m sad for you.
Sarah Flatt is one of the best people ever, period. As many of you reading this probably know, she is a genuine, wise, fun and caring friend, the kind of person you want beside you as much on the best day of your life as the worst. She is also a gifted leader, as we have already seen in her work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), as the pastor for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Capac, MI, and as a counselor and chaplain at more than one Lutheran summer camp . . . and this is just the beginning of her career.
Wherever you may have been lucky enough to get to know Sarah—school, church, University, seminary, camp, The Gathering—you were lucky because Sarah was able to get to you in her adapted mini-van. And right now, she really needs a new one.
WHAT IS AN ADAPTED MINI VAN?
Adapted mini-vans exist for people who have a disability that prevents them from driving a typical vehicle, but who are still able to (and need to) drive themselves. They need to be highly specialized for the individual driving them, and thus cannot be made on a traditional assembly line, like most vehicles. In Sarah’s Mini, the floor is lowered so that it rides around the same height as a sports car, to allow a folding ramp from the side-door to extend to be at a safe angle to the ground. Sarah’s Mini also features hand controls and a specialized driver’s chair that rotates to allow her to transfer in and out of it, moves forward and backwards to allow her to be at a good distance from the gas and brake lever, and raises and lowers around 16” in height, again allowing her to transfer in and out and to have good sight in any driving situation. As many of you know, Sarah’s Mini also has typical gas and break pedals, allowing it to be driven by others in case she is sick or needs the van to be moved by someone else. Other features of Sarah’s Mini include wheelchair tie-downs, a rubber floor, the side door ramp and its button activations, and a special mirror for backing-up.
HOW MUCH DOES AN ADAPTED MINI-VAN COST?
A typical mini-van costs between $35,000 and $45,000. However, Adapted Minis are very specialized items and must be built outside of the traditional assembly line model. This adds an additional $10,000 to $15,000 to the basic cost. Further, more individualized adaptations must be made on-site, by specialized mechanics who cost about $100 per how for labor. Sarah’s drivers chair alone costs $5,000, and the cost of additional parts adds up quickly. Because of this, a brand new adapted mini-van costs between $60,000 and $70,000.
WHY DOES SARAH NEED A NEW ADAPTED MINI-VAN?
Practically, mini-vans are the best vehicle for adaptation, as they maintain a relatively normal amount of seating and still allow room for Sarah’s wheelchair. Sarah must bring her chair into the vehicle with her, making smaller options, such as a standard sedan, impossible.
Sarah uses her Mini for her work as a pastor, which includes visiting hospitalized or homebound members of her congregation. Sarah is also actively involved with the ELCA in wider contexts, including being on the board for the National Youth Gathering, which will take place in Detroit this summer. She drives to all of those meetings, too.
Many of you also know that Sarah’s Mini is important because it allows Sarah to drive all over visiting friends, picking us up for lunch dates or shopping trips, tea and sympathy, Broadway shows and family dinners. The most important thing about Sarah’s Mini is that it generally has Sarah in it, and therefore allows us to have more Sarah in our lives. When you think about it, we need Sarah to have a Mini almost as much as Sarah needs Sarah to have a mini.
Most adapted mini-vans last between 6 and 8 years—Sarah’s current Mini is already 11 years old. It has seen countless trips between Michigan and South Carolina when she was in seminary. It has picked up friends at the airport, taken cats to the vet, and suffered the dust and mud of working at summer camp. All vehicles become unreliable and eventually unsafe with age and unfortunately, Sarah’s current Mini is quite a few years past its retirement age.
If you don’t know Sarah Flatt personally, I’m sad for you.
Sarah Flatt is one of the best people ever, period. As many of you reading this probably know, she is a genuine, wise, fun and caring friend, the kind of person you want beside you as much on the best day of your life as the worst. She is also a gifted leader, as we have already seen in her work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), as the pastor for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Capac, MI, and as a counselor and chaplain at more than one Lutheran summer camp . . . and this is just the beginning of her career.
Wherever you may have been lucky enough to get to know Sarah—school, church, University, seminary, camp, The Gathering—you were lucky because Sarah was able to get to you in her adapted mini-van. And right now, she really needs a new one.
WHAT IS AN ADAPTED MINI VAN?
Adapted mini-vans exist for people who have a disability that prevents them from driving a typical vehicle, but who are still able to (and need to) drive themselves. They need to be highly specialized for the individual driving them, and thus cannot be made on a traditional assembly line, like most vehicles. In Sarah’s Mini, the floor is lowered so that it rides around the same height as a sports car, to allow a folding ramp from the side-door to extend to be at a safe angle to the ground. Sarah’s Mini also features hand controls and a specialized driver’s chair that rotates to allow her to transfer in and out of it, moves forward and backwards to allow her to be at a good distance from the gas and brake lever, and raises and lowers around 16” in height, again allowing her to transfer in and out and to have good sight in any driving situation. As many of you know, Sarah’s Mini also has typical gas and break pedals, allowing it to be driven by others in case she is sick or needs the van to be moved by someone else. Other features of Sarah’s Mini include wheelchair tie-downs, a rubber floor, the side door ramp and its button activations, and a special mirror for backing-up.
HOW MUCH DOES AN ADAPTED MINI-VAN COST?
A typical mini-van costs between $35,000 and $45,000. However, Adapted Minis are very specialized items and must be built outside of the traditional assembly line model. This adds an additional $10,000 to $15,000 to the basic cost. Further, more individualized adaptations must be made on-site, by specialized mechanics who cost about $100 per how for labor. Sarah’s drivers chair alone costs $5,000, and the cost of additional parts adds up quickly. Because of this, a brand new adapted mini-van costs between $60,000 and $70,000.
WHY DOES SARAH NEED A NEW ADAPTED MINI-VAN?
Practically, mini-vans are the best vehicle for adaptation, as they maintain a relatively normal amount of seating and still allow room for Sarah’s wheelchair. Sarah must bring her chair into the vehicle with her, making smaller options, such as a standard sedan, impossible.
Sarah uses her Mini for her work as a pastor, which includes visiting hospitalized or homebound members of her congregation. Sarah is also actively involved with the ELCA in wider contexts, including being on the board for the National Youth Gathering, which will take place in Detroit this summer. She drives to all of those meetings, too.
Many of you also know that Sarah’s Mini is important because it allows Sarah to drive all over visiting friends, picking us up for lunch dates or shopping trips, tea and sympathy, Broadway shows and family dinners. The most important thing about Sarah’s Mini is that it generally has Sarah in it, and therefore allows us to have more Sarah in our lives. When you think about it, we need Sarah to have a Mini almost as much as Sarah needs Sarah to have a mini.
Most adapted mini-vans last between 6 and 8 years—Sarah’s current Mini is already 11 years old. It has seen countless trips between Michigan and South Carolina when she was in seminary. It has picked up friends at the airport, taken cats to the vet, and suffered the dust and mud of working at summer camp. All vehicles become unreliable and eventually unsafe with age and unfortunately, Sarah’s current Mini is quite a few years past its retirement age.
Organizer
Randy Mayer
Organizer
Capac, MI