I Need A Wheelchair But I'm Out Of Money. What To Do?

Does one of these sound like you?

- "I need a wheelchair but can't afford it. Do you know any charity group that give away wheelchair when the owner no longer need it?"

- "My daughter is paraplegic and we need a wheelchair but our insurance won't pay for it. Can i get a grant to buy a wheelchair? Where can i get it?"

- "Does anyone know where and how can i get a grant to buy a wheelchair. My son is disabled and he really need a replacement for his old wheelchair."

If one of the above does sounded like you then read on. You may find something useful in this article since the purpose on this article is to help you acquire a wheelchair either for you or your loved ones.

First, i wil disappoint you by saying this; forget about grants! Yes, grants do exists and yes goverments and organizations do provide grants to help people with disabilities but those grants are not meant for personal. Grants are given to organization or groups which activities will benefit a lot of people and applying for a grant is a very tedious process. Save your time energy. Go for another route.

Now, here are a couple of ways that could give you a better chance to get that wheelchair you need :

1. Craigslist

Craigslist get over 10 billion pageviews a month. Millions of people visit this site every month. With so many people lurking around the site you are bound to find someone who can help you. Craigslist has a special section for "wanted" items. You could post your ad there for free and with a little luck you'll get a message from someone who have a wheelchair to spare.

Just go the site and click on the "post to classifieds" link at the top left section. If you have an account there already better to login first though. Choose the appropriate category which is the "item wanted" then choose the area nearest you. Fill in the title box with your request like "I need a wheelchair for my son" or some sort. Explain your situation in the description box and be specific. Do you need a manual or an electric power wheelchair? Is it okay if it's used? If you put specific information here you will save from unnecessary/irrelevant replies. Don't forget to enter your email address and double check if it's entered correctly. This is where people will contact you. After you entered all the required informaiton click on the "Continue" button to preview your ad. Enter the code shown on the confirmation image and hit "Continue" again to submit your ad.

I know that there is no guarantee that this will work. But one thing i do know is that posting an ad in craigslist is much more effective and faster to receive response than placing and ad on a newspaper.

2. Fundraising activity

A lot of people thought about going for this route when they are in need for money. Some of them decided not to go for it because they are afraid that they will end up spending a lot of money for the event. But help is out there.

Go to your favorite search engine and search for this : "free fundraising kits". There are plenty of sites offering kits for fundraising. Most of them are really free and you don't need to spend a dime to get the goodies for sale. Some other offer heavily discounted items (over 80% discount). You can buy the goodies very very cheap and get a handsome profits selling them.

3. Ask around

Maybe you've done this but i will write it down anyway. Ask your friends and families if they know anyone who can spare a wheelchair. And ask them to ask THEIR friends and families if they know anyone who can spare a wheelchair. Everybody knows somebody



There you go. The list is short, i know, but i do hope it can help you in finding a whelechair for you or your loved one.