We are thrilled to share this story about the successful completion of the first year of our innovative ‘wheelchair on demand’ service collaboration with one of our associates – the Association of Physically Handicapped (APH), Belgaum. We, at VOSAP, keep brainstorming about new ways to support Specially Abled People (SAP) in every way to live a dignified life. We have previously donated wheelchairs, smart canes, sewing machines, etc. to empower Specially Abled People and will continue to do so in the future as well.
But, today we are sharing about one of our innovative service programs that are being conducted through a shared service model with APH as our partner as well as the beneficiary. We are gladly announcing the one-year completion of this innovative service model. It was in January 2022 when VOSAP donated 10 wheelchairs to APH, Belgaum. Unlike our other donations, these wheelchairs were not to be given to any beneficiary rather APH had to keep these wheelchairs for its members to be provided ‘on demand’.
Members of APH, Specially Abled People living in Belgaum City are allowed to rent these wheelchairs ‘free of cost’ for a day, week, or month as per their requirement. It’s been 12 happy months since our donated wheelchairs are serving the needs of APH members whether it is for traveling in the city, attending a job fair or function, or any other social activities.
In a year, 35 Beneficiaries used the services during the events and the services were used 415 times in the past year. Few of the beneficiaries take the benefits of this service on a daily basis.
The year 2022 witnessed the positive impact that these wheelchairs have had on the lives of SAPs like Balkrishna, Abhishek Patil, Ravan Laxman, Vaman Katti, Nandini Girei, Arti Pawar, Parsuram, and dozens of other beneficiaries. The ‘free of cost’ rental service for wheelchairs has been widely used, with members taking them out for a week or a month at no cost. This has ensured that more people are able to benefit from the service and get around when they need to.
Parsuram lives in Belgaum and has 80% Disability. He met with an accident and lost his legs. Prior to the accident he used to work at railway station. Members of Partner organization at APH, helped him get job at ticket counter in Belgaum. He is a recurring user of shared service model of wheelchair. Whenever he wants to move around the city or go out of town, he gets the wheelchair and return back upon use. In past 1 year, he has taken used this service atleast 9 times.
Ravan Laxman has 90% Disability. He visited APH during Job Fair and used services for the first time. Currently he is employed at Reliance Mart as Packager. He uses shared service model to rent the wheelchair to move around the city, travel. He also uses wheelchair service whenever he visits APH for social gatherings or festivals.
Abhishek Patil has 100% Disability. He cannot move around without support. Currently he is working at APH for clerical and miscellaneous tasks. He uses the wheelchair every single day for work. Sometimes, he also uses service to rent the wheelchair to move around in the city.
These are few cases were Rental service model is used by beneficiaries, we have a lot more stories to tell. We are glad about the positive response received from SAPs who benefitted from this on-demand wheelchair service. We are looking forward to scaling this innovative shared service partnership and would love to partner with other organizations as well. We are looking forward to supporting specially-abled people in as many ways as we can.
