Stephenie is gonna be a Mini-Van driver! Why do I start this article out with this statement? Well because for as long as I have known her, she has said she would never ever drive a minivan under any circumstances!  And now that is exactly what we are going to be a brand new minivan driven family!! That’s how much Stephenie loves me, she’s even willing to drive a minivan for me… TRUE LOVE!

We started the grant program through the veterans administration to acquire a wheelchair accessible vehicle about six months ago. Of course there is a little bit of paperwork involved and that was easily submitted and we got the official acceptance soon after. As part of my VA rating, it explicitly states eligibility for this grant program when it becomes necessary. With that portion complete, we waited a little while to start the discussion with the representative at the VA. We had a one to two hour discussion with all of the requirements well defined and the decision factors laid out so that we knew exactly how to proceed.

The next stage was finding a mobility service provider that could sell us the vehicle upon modification. We had previously gotten a lift system added to the back of the Honda Pilot so that I could drive my scooter on to it and be able to continue to be mobile at work. The company we used was called mobility works based out of northern Seattle and we were happy with their service. We traveled over to the Woodinville area, just north of Seattle, to meet with their sales representative and do a little tour of their facility. While there, we got to look at several vehicles as well as test out sitting in them and getting in and out with a wheelchair. Almost immediately we narrowed our selection down to the Honda’s lineup, specifically the odyssey model. This was an easy choice because we are a Honda family having owned several over the years.

A few of the decisions that needed to be made about the vehicle include:

• Color of the vehicle – I wanted the newest dark blue color which was only available on the 2025 models so that kind of narrowed down our selection for year as well.
• Next we needed to define whether the wheelchair would be entering the vehicle from the side or from the rear of the vehicle. Certain vehicles can only be modified for side or rear entry and Honda is only a side entry capable solution so we kind of had that decision made for us. I think this will be a good solution as long as we don’t get some person parking too close to the vehicle and blocking access.
• Position within the vehicle is the next choice and I get car sick so that means I have to be sitting in the passenger front seat area so that I can see the road. This requires the passenger seat to be removable and the wheelchair securing system to be mounted in that position.
• Securing the wheelchair is another option that needed to be defined. There were two selections one being tie down straps which would require someone to secure the wheels of the chair on both sides. The other option is a more automated solution where a large peg is added to the bottom front of the wheelchair and you drive into a mounting bracket that latches on to that peg. This makes the most sense as it is very easy and doesn’t require someone getting on their hands and knees to secure the wheelchair each time.
• Lastly there are two different conversion companies that mobility works uses to convert their vans. Each conversion company had pros and cons and we ultimately selected the Braun company solution.

With all of those decisions made it was time for us to go shopping online and see if we could find a vehicle in there current inventory that met all of our needs. We started this process at the end of 2024 so the 2025 vehicles were just coming online as possible inventory. It only took about two weeks before we located a vehicle that had all of the features we were looking for and was in the right color so we put a down payment of $500 to secure that vehicle and start the process of shipping it to the Pacific Northwest.

While we were waiting for and looking for the appropriate vehicle the wheelchair was delivered to the American lake VA hospital where I went to get fitted and trained on how to use the wheelchair. There was no way for us to get the wheelchair to our house to begin using it because it weighs 450 lbs and is quite bulky, so upon request they delivered it to our house. When we finally found the vehicle the next step was to get the wheelchair, me and the vehicle all in the same place to do a fitting. This is necessary to know where the chair will be placed and the securing system will be mounted on the floor. Mobility works was great in sending two guys to our house with the van that we are about to purchase and doing all of the work in our garage. They then took the wheelchair and the van back to their facility in northern Seattle so that they could make all the necessary changes.

We anticipate doing the final paperwork and receiving the wheelchair accessible man around the end of April. Having this new tool in our lives will make it so much easier for me to leave the house. Currently when we leave the house I have to let Stephenie know which mode of mobility I want to use like the manual wheelchair or the scooter. She then has to get it ready and take it apart to put it in the back of her Honda CRV.  Getting the manual wheelchair or scooter in and out of the CRV is not that difficult but it can be annoying if you’re doing it in the rain or it’s cold etc.

So it won’t be too long before we will be trading in our Honda Pilot which has very low miles to partially pay for our balance on the Honda Odyssey wheelchair accessible van. The way the grant program works is that we pay for what they call the chassis which is just the base model of the Honda Odyssey. The first part of the grant program allows for about $26,000 of funds to be paid toward the purchase of the vehicle itself .The second-half of the grant money pays for all of the conversion work and materials required. With the trade in of the Honda Pilot which we are hoping to get about $11,000.00 for we still will need to cover about $8000 to $10,000 dollars on the loan. Thankfully we have received a few ALS related grants this year along with several of our friends families and coworkers have been donating to the go fund me account which will be used to offset this balance. We are close to being able to pay off this necessary purchase however if anyone wants to add a little bit to the go fund me account that would be much appreciated.

The next big thing that’s coming up is the remodel of the downstairs of our house so that I will have a fully functional ADA compliant bathroom. My ability to go up and down the stairs to the only shower in our house is becoming very challenging so we need to get on the home remodel as quickly as possible. More to come on the drama related to the home remodel contract probably in my next article.