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From the Heart: Embracing the Ability to Enable Others

This story is redistributed in its entirety from Alamo Today and written by Jody Morgan. You can read the original article by clicking here.

 

Elizabeth Campos at Montair Elementary found teaching from a wheelchair a daunting experience. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Campos

Elizabeth Campos at Montair Elementary found teaching from a wheelchair a daunting experience. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Campos

Thanks to the inspiration of three local men collaborating with the creativity of area educators, 48,000 students in 53 schools are enjoying a fresh approach to Ability Awareness this academic year.  Founders of Del Corazon (From-the-Heart), Don Routh, Josh Routh, and Bill Wheeler, support the curriculum with informative videos, personal presentations, and the loan for a week to each participating school of 10 wheelchairs.  Children learn to appreciate their own abilities and embrace the challenge of enabling others to realize their full potential.  Also known as the Wheelchair Foundation Schools Project, the initiative fosters respect for the strengths of peers coping with intellectual, developmental, and physical challenges, while raising funds to send wheelchair to hundres of individuals who would otherwise remain immobile.

The Wheelchair Foundation, established by Ken Behring in 2000, provides wheelchairs to people around the world who need but cannot afford a wheelchair.  In many countries, a wheelchair costs a worker’s entire annual income.  Todate, 955,000 wheelchairs have been delivered, bringing mobility, dignity, and hope to individuals aged two to over 102.

Since Bill Wheeler, founder of Blacktie Transportation, first invited Don and Josh to join him on a Wheelchair Foundation distribution trip, “the Three Amigos” have made 23 distribution trips to 14 Latin American countries, delivering 72,000 wheelchairs.  Asked to identify his favorite trip, Josh insists: “All of them!” His father, Don, concurs.  Each trip is different, every journey life changing.

Josh demonstrates to wheelchair recipients that their personal goals are achievable.  Doctors predicted Josh, born with Cerebral Palsy, would be a quadriplegic incapable of speech. At 31, he spoke his first word: “Soup!” His indefatigable spirit continues to feed his father’s dedication.  A graduate of San Ramon Valley High School, Josh relies on a wheelchair for mobility.  Now 35, he lives independently, drives his own car to work, and has multiple sports accomplishments to his credit.

In Paraguay, From-the-Heart delivered a wheelchair to another Josh.  Seeing his own son in the four-year old also coping with Cerebral Palsy, Don translated his parental experience into a message of hope for the mother.  Recalling how grateful he would have been for the advice of a mentor, Don happily shares his experience, encouraging care givers to believe in the possibility that their charges will be, likeJosh, successful adults.

In spring 2012, Don Routh presented the concept of a schools program to Pleasanton Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi.  Ahmadi immediately recognized the value.  “The potential of this endeavor as a true service learning project was incredible, and it was obvious that the impact to all involved would be profound,” she comments.  “The project allows our students to learn and apply their knowledge while serving others globally.  “Six PUSD elementary schools participated the following academic year.  Six teachers joined a wheelchair distribution tour that summer and all came back as zealous advocates of the program.

Wheelchairs delivered to Costa Rica and Honduras this summer will carry the SRVUSD or PUSD logo, connecting donors and recipient.

Wheelchairs delivered to Costa Rica and Honduras this summer will carry the SRVUSD or PUSD logo, connecting donors and recipient.

The San Ramon Valley Unified School District (SRVUSD) recommended the project to all of its schools for 2013-2014, as did PUSD.  Over the course of four months from late spring through summer, Don worked with Special Needs Parents and SRVUSD professionals to enhance the existing Ability Awareness curriculum to include lesson plans for all grades addressing physical, intellectual and developmental  issues.

Terry Koehne, SRVUSD Communications Director, gladly accepted the task of promoting the program with district principals.  “Don is amazing he provides every ounce of support a school needs, including background information, monthly newsletters, and updates, and makes himself available to do presentations for any group that needs it.  “Support materials include a  17 page book list, movie suggestions featuring characters coping with disability, fun ways to try wheelchairs, and fundraising ideas.  Proud that the fundraising aspect of the program will provide hundreds of wheelchairs to people who lack mobility, Koehne notes, “Providing students with real opportunities to experience the issue themselves gives more meaning to the fundraising component, and inspires them to get even more involved.”

Students and faculty members find Don Routh’s presentation riveting.  He opens up by explaining “There are more than 100 million people with physical disabilities worldwide who are in need of a wheelchair.  Thirty million of these are children and 90% of them do not to to school.”  Lacking mobility, they have no access to education and often no social interaction with other children.  Sometimes they have to crawl to reach basic items beyond their reach.

Montair Elementary School ran the project in October/November, embedding the program in all aspects of academics.  Coin counting supported math, writing persuasive letters to the business community underscored language lessons, and walking into Danville to speak to local business leaders bolstered oral presentation skills.  Dennis Simkin, Vice President, Manager recalls the day the students came to J.Rockcliff.  “I was in awe of how professional and cute they were.  “Simkin estimates that 30 or 40 people came out to hear their presentation.

Taking turns, students participated in a wheelchair basketball game.  When one student finally managed to score, the crowd erupted in cheers.  Elizabeth Campos spent part of a day teaching in a wheelchair and found maneuvering around her classroom a major challenge.  Months later, in February, another school activity highlighted how much the project affected students.  Campos wrote: “At Montair this week we are participating in a No-Name-Calling Week, and as Leadership was discussing ways to promote this, a few students brought up the fact that they actually think name-calling has decreased at school since Ability Awareness and the Wheelchair Foundation project because kids learned to accept others for who they are, no matter what they look like or their abilities.”

8 year-old Alejandro's grandmother carried him to receive his first wheelchair, delivered by From-the Hart in March.

8 year-old Alejandro’s grandmother carried him to receive his first wheelchair, delivered by From-the Hart in March.

Gale Ranch Middle School ran the program in February.  Counselor Lori Olson volunteered to coordinate.  The opportunity for a field trip to the Blackhawk Automotive Museum was a huge incentive for students, and they returned from meeting Wheelchair Foundation President David Behring even morec ommitted to the cause.  Blacktie provides field trip transportation and also stores and delivers the two sets of project wheelchairs.

Student reflections indicate how much Gale Ranch pupils learned spending time in a wheelchair.  One student commented, “Before this I had never really thought about being in a wheelchair, not being able to do things normal people could, and feeling like you are separated from everyone.”  Friends treated them differently.  Another student said, “I now know that people in a wheelchair just wanted to be treated the same way as everyone else.”The value of mobility was clearly recognized.  A third student said,  “When the founder, Don, came to our school, he said not to feel sorry for the people who have wheelchairs but for the people who don’t have one.”

San Ramon Valley High Schoo land Monte Vista are holding Basketball Game Fundraisers showcasing their athletes competing against the nationally ranked BORP Warriors Wheelchair team.  Local teams have volunteered to accept the challenge of playing in wheelchairs.  CarlyLutz, SRVHS Leadership student reports that signupsfor “Ride-in-a-Wheelchair for a Day” are filling up quickly.  Janet Willford, SRVHS Leadership teacher, describes planned lunchtime activities: “a wheelchair relay race, wheelchair bowling, and a pep rally.”

Costa Rica and Honduras (getting Foundation donations for the first time )are slated to each receive a container of 280 wheelchairs at a cost of $42,000 per container.  As of April 17th, $61,258.05 has been collected, with many schools about to commence the project.  Teachers, parents, and older students accompanied by an adult have been invited to come on this summer’s distributions trips.  Ken Behring is awarding stipends of $2,000 toward travel costs to the elementary, middle, and high school achieving the highest per student donations.

Visit www.del-corazon.org for information or to donate.

 

 

 

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Turning The Wheels

This article is written by Jeremy Walsh of the San Ramon / Danville Express and can be viewed in it’s entirety here.

 

Turning the wheels

Wheelchair project aims to raise awareness, funds in San Ramon Valley schools

Students in the San Ramon Valley and other parts of the Bay Area are learning valuable lessons about physical and mental disabilities through a burgeoning awareness program.

Wheelchair relays at Valley View Elementary in Pleasanton on April 17. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

Wheelchair relays at Valley View Elementary in Pleasanton on April 17. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

By placing wheelchairs on local campuses and providing educational information to school leaders, the Wheelchair Foundation’s From the Heart schools project aims to raise awareness about disabilities in the world, inform local students about issues faced by people with disabilities and generate funds for people in need of wheelchairs.

“We want it to be a lot more than a fundraiser,” said Don Routh, one of the volunteers spearheading the foundation’s effort. “I’m just as excited about raising awareness about mobility,” Routh said, adding that he enjoys helping students realize, “It’s OK to be in a wheelchair, (and) you shouldn’t be afraid of people in wheelchairs.”

Awareness campaigns like From the Heart have held special meaning for Routh for more than three decades.

“I’ve been an advocate for people with disabilities ever since my son was diagnosed (with cerebral palsy) at 1 year old, which would be 34 years ago,” said Routh, a retired business executive from San Ramon. “He’s my inspiration.”

With the help of his adult son Josh — who uses a wheelchair — and friend and Pleasanton business owner Bill Wheeler, Routh coordinates with the foundation and education leaders to present the From the Heart program at 48 Bay Area schools, primarily in the San Ramon Valley and Pleasanton school districts.

“It is a unique opportunity for our community to create awareness with our students around global mobility issues while raising awareness with these same students about the need for mobility in the world,” said Mary Shelton, San Ramon Valley schools superintendent. “This project impacts our students tremendously while making a tangible difference in the world.”

To date, schools involved in the project have raised about $65,000, putting organizers more than three-quarters of the way to the goal amount needed to bring 560 wheelchairs — two shipping containers’ worth — to people in need in Costa Rica and Honduras this summer.

“The From the Heart schools project has certainly exceeded our expectations,” said Eva Carleton, director of operations for the Wheelchair Foundation. “While we are very appreciative of the funds that are being raised to provide wheelchairs to those in need, we are even more excited about the awareness that is being raised.”

Pleasanton’s Valley View Elementary School was one of two local campuses to gain first-hand experience last week, being provided with demo wheelchairs for students and staff to use.

“I myself sat in a wheelchair and tried to get around the campus,” Valley View principal Rafael Cruz said on April 17. “Looks easier than it actually is.”

Students also got the chance to maneuver themselves in wheelchairs or watch their peers do so, as well as take part in targeted lessons.

Valley View fifth-grader Nicole Brownen, sitting in her class's demo wheelchair, cuts out a shape using her non-dominant left hand, part of an ability-awareness lesson highlighting fine motor skills. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

Valley View fifth-grader Nicole Brownen, sitting in her class’s demo wheelchair, cuts out a shape using her non-dominant left hand, part of an ability-awareness lesson highlighting fine motor skills. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

In her fifth-grade class, Valley View teacher Jessica Dehl had her students cut out four shapes outlined on a piece of paper, but told them to use the scissors in their non-dominant hand — an exercise aimed at making the students think about the impact of having diminished fine motor skills.

Dehl gave her students a 10-minute time limit and said they’d be graded on how straight their lines were.

“That’s not fair,” one girl said.

Most of Dehl’s fifth-graders struggled to cut shapes, like stars and diamonds, to their liking.

“This is impossible,” a student said.

Another followed with, “I can’t do this.” And a third child added, “The heart (shape) is the hardest because of the curve.”

At the end of the exercise, Dehl — who taught most of the morning from a wheelchair — debriefed with her students, asking them to reflect on their experience completing the activity despite physical difficulty.

“Did it change who you were as a person?” she asked. “Did it change how smart you were?”

The class responded with a resounding, “No.”

“You didn’t change the person you were because of how well you cut,” Dehl told her students.

Having wheelchairs on campus for a week was unique for the children at Valley View, as there are currently no students who regularly use wheelchairs enrolled at the school, according to Cruz.

From the Heart offers a variety of personal experiences to students and teachers alike.

Jennifer Gonzalez, speech pathologist at Valley View, plans to deliver wheelchairs in Honduras this July with Wheelchair Foundation reps and five teachers from Pleasanton’s Lydiksen Elementary School.

“I look forward to the experience and actually doing the wheelchair distributions at the different locations,” Gonzalez said.

The Valley View fundraiser, which ends on Wednesday, has generated just over $3,000 to date, Cruz said.

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Fifth-grade teacher Jessica Dehl teaches from a wheelchair April 17 at Valley View Elementary in Pleasanton. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

Vintage Hills Elementary School in Pleasanton has raised the most money per-student thus far, with an average of $8.55 per pupil, Routh said.

The campus to raise the most money overall to date is Gale Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, which collected just over $7,500 in late February and early March, according to school counselor Lori Olson, who helped lead From the Heart at Gale Ranch.

“I decided to lead ours because I actually have a sister in a wheelchair, so I know how important the cause is to provide wheelchairs for people that don’t have them in other countries. In some countries people are confined to their beds, and don’t have access to an education because of it,” she said.

Nearly every public school in the San Ramon Valley and Pleasanton participated in the project this school year, according to Routh. Treeview Elementary School in Hayward and Oakland’s Skyline High School (Routh’s alma mater) were also involved.

“This has been a wonderful service-learning project for our students in that not only do students help raise funds for wheelchairs, but they also have tremendous learning opportunities directly related to academic subjects,” said Parvin Ahmadi, Pleasanton schools superintendent.

Eight schools, including six in Pleasanton, took part in the program last year.

Routh said he hopes to have 50-60 Bay Area schools participate next school year, and then “expand it significantly” starting in the 2015-16 term.

Disability outreach in local schools goes beyond the From the Heart project, according to Routh, who has helped organize fundraising basketball games at San Ramon Valley High (on Tuesday) and Monte Vista High (May 6).

The schools’ basketball programs will play against the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program’s Junior Road Warriors wheelchair basketball team, starting at 7 p.m. on the respective nights. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students.

Founded by Blackhawk developer, businessman and philanthropist Kenneth E. Behring in 2000, the Wheelchair Foundation aims to create awareness about physical disabilities and deliver wheelchairs to those in need throughout the world. To date, the foundation has delivered or committed 951,323 wheelchairs worldwide, according to its website.

To learn more about From the Heart and other efforts by the Rouths and Wheeler, visit their website, called “Del Corazon.”

Valley View Elementary students take part in wheelchair relays April 17. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

Valley View Elementary students take part in wheelchair relays April 17. (Photo by Jeremy Walsh)

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A Courageous Veteran Receives Mobility

We received this letter from Emile Meylan, the father of Mariela Meylan, a US Veteran that was injured while serving over seas.

Mariela on graduation day from the US Army.

Mariela on graduation day from the US Army.

My daughter, Mariela, served in the U.S. Military.  She was stationed in Kuwait and was injured in an auto accident while on patrol.  On December 19th, 2004, she and three other soldiers were changing a flat tire on their truck on the side of the road, when their vehicle was hit by a passing motorist.  

The hit-and-run driver fled the scene.  Two of the soldiers that were with her were killed.  My daughter was so severely injured in the accident that she was transferred from Kuwait, to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany.    My wife, our Son-in-Law and I all traveled to Germany to be with her.  When we arrived on Christmas Day, Mariela was in a coma.

Due to the severity of her injuries, on December 26th she was transferred to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  We were invited to fly home with her aboard an Air Evac C141 Flying Hospital plane, along with fifty other soldiers injured in Iraq.  Some were missing limbs, others, like Mariela, were non-responsive.

Mariela in her new sports wheelchair.

Mariela in her new sports wheelchair.

Mariela spent nearly eight months in a coma.  She stayed two years at Walter Reed Medical Center, and was then transferred to the Veteran’s Hospital in Livermore, California, where she would spend another year.  After a year in Livermore’s facility she was allowed tom come home with us. 

Here prognosis was that she would never wake up from her coma, but she did!  It was also thought that she would never regain her ability to walk, but she did!

All of this, we have, thanks to people like Mark Williams, and Matt Beinke and the Wheelchair Foundation. 

Thank you,

Emile Meylan

Thank you Emile for sending us this letter and the pictures of Mariela and THANK YOU Mariela for your service to our country.

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Group raises kids' awareness of disabilities

This article is borrowed from the Contra Costa Times and is shared in it’s entirety. To read the original article written by Robert Jordan click here.

SAN RAMON — Don Routh’s lips still tremble and his eyes fight back tears as he recalls the day 34 years ago when doctors told him that his then 1-year-old son, Josh, would never speak or have use of his limbs.

Doctors diagnosed Josh with cerebral palsy, a developmental disability that is caused by brain damage — usually sustained in the womb or at birth — that affects body movement, according to United Celebral Palsy.

“I was terrified,” said Routh, who adopted Josh when he was two days old. “That was my son and to hear that he would be a quadriplegic was tough. … But you can either bury your head in the sand or you can embrace it.”

Don Routh, of the Del Corazon foundation, speaks to students and teachers Feb. 6 at Green Valley Elementary School in Danville. Del Corazon helps raise money for several charitable causes, especially the Wheelchair Foundation and El Oasis Orphanage.

Don Routh, of the Del Corazon foundation, speaks to students and teachers Feb. 6 at Green Valley Elementary School in Danville. Del Corazon helps raise money for several charitable causes, especially the Wheelchair Foundation and El Oasis Orphanage. Photo by Jim Stevens / Bay Area News Group

Routh has done more than embrace it. He has spent his money and time advocating for people with disabilities. The doctors were wrong about Josh. Josh, 35, lives by himself in San Ramon and works as a clerk at Nob Hill Foods.

Together Routh, Josh and Bill Wheeler, the owner of Black Tie Transportation in Pleasanton, have spent the past nine years highlighting world mobility issues and the need for wheelchairs through Del Corazon, the organization the trio started to partner with the Danville-based Wheelchair Foundation. Del Corazon has delivered more than 7,000 wheelchairs to Mexico and Central and South America.

“Josh was born here, but if he was born in a developing country he would not have had the same opportunities,” said Routh, a retired businessman who was a partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. “We are helping give others a fighting chance.”

Last year, the trio incorporated schools into their organization with a program that not only raises funds to buy wheelchairs but also provide students a chance to learn about the situation people with disabilities face in the developing world. More than 109 million people with a disability need a wheelchair in the developing world, according to Del Corazon. With help from the Wheelchair Foundation, Del Corazon can deliver wheelchairs for $150 each.

In its first year at eight schools in Pleasanton, Del Corazon raised $18,000. The program expanded to 50 schools this year in Pleasanton, San Ramon, Danville, Oakland and Hayward with a goal to raise $100,000 this year and eventually expand to other parts of the Bay Area.

“This program was different from a lot of other projects we get,” said Parvin Ahmadi, the Pleasanton schools superintendent. “This one has the potential to be a really good service learning project. It is ongoing, and regardless of how old you are, you can be involved.”

Third-graders, from left, Ava Haubner, 8, and Sidney White, 8, sitting in wheelchairs, eat lunch Feb. 7 at Vintage Hills Elementary School in Pleasanton.

Third-graders, from left, Ava Haubner, 8, and Sidney White, 8, sitting in wheelchairs, eat lunch Feb. 7 at Vintage Hills Elementary School in Pleasanton. Photo by Anda Chu / Bay Area News Group

Routh spent the summer with staff from the San Ramon Valley school district’s Ability Awareness Program developing curriculum based on mobility and wheelchairs that accompanies fundraising efforts that students, parents and teachers participate in. Students from kindergarten to high school have a chance to learn about mobility and wheelchairs through subjects from English to physics.

“Students learned a lot about what it means to help others, and that is just a powerful message,” said Kelly Hoffmann, a second-grade teacher at Bollinger Canyon Elementary in San Ramon. “They learned that if you contribute $2 it can make a difference in another person’s life.”

Bollinger Canyon chose to incorporate the Del Corazon program into its lessons plan for a month and set and met a goal of raising $2.50 per student.

In Pleasanton, the Lydiksen Elementary community was one of the pilot schools and collected more than $5,000 in a month, enough to buy 34 wheelchairs for people in Guatemala. Beyond the service learning and fundraising that the school did, teachers from the school also paid their own way to Guatemala to help Routh, Josh and Wheeler deliver the chairs.

“The first chair we delivered was to a woman who had not been out of her bedroom for six years,” said Kimberly Hereld, a fifth-grade teacher at Lydiksen. “We all cried because for $150 we were able to make a difference, and it was our kids that made that happen.” Routh, Josh and Wheeler, with the help of the Wheelchair Foundation, have delivered wheelchairs to 13 countries in Central and South America and hope to visit all 21 countries, with Honduras and Costa Rica scheduled for July.

Lydiksen Elementary is preparing to raise funds in March to help buy wheelchairs for the Honduras trip. In addition, Del Corazon also scheduled two charity basketball games with Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley High School’s basketball programs playing against the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program’s wheelchair basketball team on April 29 and May 6.

All the proceeds go toward purchasing and delivering wheelchairs.

“We get to give kids their freedom back,” Josh Routh said.

“We are so blessed and take for granted what we have.” Added Wheeler, “Josh is the X-factor and sets an example for all the kids,” said Wheeler. “He gets around independently, and the kids see what he can do and say, ‘I am like him.’ ”

Fourth-grader Eddie Park, 9, navigates through his classroomin a wheelchair Feb. 7 at Vintage Hills Elementary School in Pleasanton. Students at the school had the use of 10 wheelchairs to experience what it is like to navigate the campus in one. Photo by Anda Chu / Bay Area News Group

Fourth-grader Eddie Park, 9, navigates through his classroomin a wheelchair Feb. 7 at Vintage Hills Elementary School in Pleasanton. Students at the school had the use of 10 wheelchairs to experience what it is like to navigate the campus in one. Photo by Anda Chu / Bay Area News Group

 

For more information on Del Corazon visit del-corazon.org.

DEL CORAZON

For more on Del Corazon, visit del-corazon.org.
For more on the Wheelchair Foundation, visit www/wheelchairfoundation.org.

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Students Get a Glimpse of Life in a Wheelchair

This article borrowed from the San Ramon Patch article published on Oct. 16, 2013 by Jane McInnis (Editor)
 

Understanding the difficulty of getting around in a wheelchair has been a hands-on lesson for students at Montevideo Elementary.

Last week, Montevideo Elementary’s physical education classes were a little different from norm: rather than ball being played on the courts, wheelchair obstacle courses became the main activity.

The school participated in the Wheelchair Foundation program, a charity organization rgar raises money for wheelchair distribution worldwide while fostering perspective to younger students who live without disabilities.

“For us it’s a whole different world,” said fifth-grader Shrena Sudhakar, 10, who participated in the program.

Schools across San Ramon, Danville, Alamo and Pleasanton participated in the fundraiser this year.

Last week, students took turns riding and guiding classmates in red wheelchairs around an obstacle course set up by P.E. instructor Michelle Cabrita.

[See Michelle Cabrita’s video about the project on the school website here.]

Cones proved tricky for students to maneuver around on their own, often being knocked over or caught under the wheelchair.

“I tell the students the cones represent maybe a big rock or a pot hole in the road,” Cabrita said, helping students imagine the obstacles others have to overcome.

After the lesson, students talked about how much work it took to get around in the wheelchairs.

“It changed my perspective because I thought you could just zoom around places fast [in a wheelchair], but it took me so long just to get to the half-way point,” said Zaid Fattah, 10.

“I never want to do it again in my life because my arms ache,” said Kavya Anand, 10.

To see more photos and videos of the program at Montevideo Elementary, click here.

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