Heim, who founded the nonprofit organization The Wheelchair Recycler about 10 years ago, has recycled hundreds of power wheelchairs. He collects and reuses parts from old, donated, discarded, or broken wheelchairs to build power wheelchairs. Heim's refurbished wheelchairs are made available at affordable prices to people who have low incomes or who don't have insurance that will cover the high costs of power wheelchairs.

When someone contacts The Wheelchair Recycler to request a power chair, Heim will work with the individual to customize the chair to his or her needs. "We talk about their disability so I can get a feeling for what they [the individuals] can and cannot do," explains Heim. "I know every type of chair. I know because I've been there."

Heim suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed. He was in a coma, required a ventilator and feeding tube, and spent several months in a hospital bed having injured his neck, sternum, and back in the accident. "I thought I was done," Heim remembers. "Then slowly I started moving my feet and my legs, and my hands started twitching."

When he moved back into his parents' home after spending six months in a rehabilitation facility, he started fixing wheelchairs in their basement. Before his accident Heim had worked in a machine shop and was already adept at building things. What first started as a hobby evolved into the nonprofit business, which has now provided an estimated 600 power wheelchairs to people in need.

The Wheelchair Recycler has developed relationships with the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Spinal Cord Association, the Cerebral Palsy Association, and other organizations like visiting nurse associations, rehabilitation facilities, and elder service agencies like MVES.

Peter Nelson, 63, of North Reading, received one of the Wheelchair Recyclers' renovated chairs recently with help from MVES' Elder Independence Fund. The Elder Independence fund is a community-funded resource that can help elders and people with disabilities purchase urgently needed items that they would be unable to pay for on their own. "Things are going very well-better than expected," said Nelson about his experience with his new motorized chair.

While a new power wheelchair can cost as much as $20,000, Heim's chairs go for about five percent of that. "We use creative financing," explains Heim. "The products are free. We charge for delivery, labor, batteries, and a special part or switch if it's needed." Heim never charges for children's chairs and sometimes waves all fees if he knows someone cannot pay at all.

Heim estimates that it takes about eight hours to renovate a standard power wheelchair and is always working on several chairs at a time. This keeps him and those who work with him quite busy. "My guys were yelling at me the other day because I had them running around in circles," said Heim. His guys include his son and a friend, both of whom help with the chair renovations, and a driver who helps to pick up donated wheelchairs and deliver refurbished chairs.

 

The Wheelchair Recycler is expanding both the size of its workshop and its reach of services. Heim is in the process of moving from a 350-square-foot shop in Marlboro to a 1,400-square-foot workshop in Ashland. He has also been providing chairs to more and more places across the United States and has even provided chairs to people in other countries including Brazil, Ukraine, Peru, and Uruguay.

 

Although his work is rewarding most of the time, Heim sometimes feels frustrated. "It's frustrating that there are just so many people who need chairs," he said. "But when I can provide a chair to someone who's been in bed for six months, I mean, that's rewarding."

For more information about the Wheelchair Recycler, please visit www.wheelchairrecycler.com .  
 
Reprinted from Mystic Valley Elder Services newsletter 7 09