Right at Home Partners with Free Wheelchair Mission to Give the Gift of Mobility to Kenyans

Local owners and corporate team members from the leading in-home care franchise complete their fourth official Vision Trip with Free Wheelchair Mission, providing more than 1,000 wheelchairs to those in need since partnering in 2015.

OMAHA, NE - An 11-year-old child is able to socialize again, a father can provide for his family, and a cancer surviving mother has regained mobility thanks to a group of 10 Right at Home franchisees and corporate team members who recently returned from Kenya. There, they gave locals with disabilities the gift of mobility, distributing free wheelchairs as part of a sponsor program with Free Wheelchair Mission, a nonprofit, humanitarian organization that provides free wheelchairs in developing nations.

“At Right at Home, our mission is to improve the quality of life for seniors and adults with disabilities,” said Right at Home President and CEO Margaret Haynes. “We are proud to partner with Free Wheelchair Mission to help bring life-changing mobility and possibility to more people around the world. Improving mobility not only improves the life of the recipient, but also their family and friends who have supported and cared for them.”

Right at Home is an international leader in professional in-home care and assistance that serves seniors and adults with disabilities.

The team was able to gift wheelchairs to those in need, enabling some of them to leave the back room of their homes for the first time in years and opening up opportunities for employment and social inclusion.

Thirty-two year old Kenyan wheelchair recipient Lemi, for example, was hit by a car in 2021 while walking to work. He lives with his mother, brother and wife in a rural farming area, and the wheelchair provided by Free Wheelchair Mission in partnership with Right at Home allows him to travel to work each day to provide for his family.

Another recipient who benefited from the Right at Home team’s efforts is an 11-year-old who suffered a spinal cord injury after being struck by a motorbike while walking to school. The child quickly and excitedly learned how to maneuver the chair in different ways and looks forward to the increased mobility to be a more active kid.

Janet, 57, has three children. She lives with her two daughters and her aunt. Janet had a stroke in November 2020 and then was diagnosed with cancer, which forced a lower-leg amputation. She had a great sense of humor but told the team that she had lost many friends because of her disability. The gift she received from Right at Home and Free Wheelchair Mission will allow her to rebuild her social life.

In all, 53 wheelchairs were distributed within three days. The World Health Organization estimates that of the 80 million people across the world that are in need of a wheelchair, fewer than 10% have access to one. Free Wheelchair Mission, with the help of supporters like Right at Home, has provided more than 1.4 million wheelchairs to those in need.

“The response from our franchisees is overwhelming. So many people have donated and expressed a desire to go and help,” said Right at Home Director of Quality and Standards Jennifer Walker.

The March trip to Kenya included 10 representatives from Right at Home. Jennifer Walker, Dawn Drazdys and Shannon Mitchell from the corporate team attended the vision trip, along with seven franchisees: Adam and Kola Bliss from Tucson, Arizona; Rick and Diane Carson from Modesto, California; Zubin and Jibril Kapadia from North Shore Long Island, New York; and Michelle Rankine from Lewisville, Texas.

They helped individuals in Kenya who faced the world from the shadows of limitation to now embrace the horizon of possibilities, with their lives infused with the newfound freedom of mobility. The gift of mobility provides hope and dignity, restoring the ability to connect, contribute, and chase dreams once thought lost.

Right at Home’s partnership with Free Wheelchair Mission started in 2015, when three Right at Home franchisees and a corporate staff member embarked on a Vision Trip in Mexico, raising $129,388 for the cause. The entire Right at Home corporate team felt so inspired by the trip that they extended the invitation to their global network in 2017. The Right at Home franchise system has contributed over $300,000 in donations, providing 1,150 wheelchairs to people with disabilities in Vietnam, Ecuador, Costa Rica and, most recently, Kenya.

Right at Home looks forward to supporting causes each year that align with the company’s values and mission.

See McKnight's Home Care, KETV and KMTV news coverage about Right at Home’s trip to Kenya in support of Free Wheelchair Mission.