$12,500 Grant to go Towards the Purchase of Hoyer Lift Systems

Photo: Northshore Education Consortium’s 40th Anniversary celebration. People’s United Bank in Danvers presented this $12,500 check at their recent event in Danvers at the Doubletree by Hilton Boston North Shore.

Left to right) Francine Rosenberg, executive director of Northshore Education Consortium’s; Kim Carrigan, television news reporter and anchor; and radio co-host Kevin Noyes, director, People’s United Community Foundation of Eastern Massachusetts.

The funds will be used towards the purchase of two Hoyer Lift systems ($17,000 total), one for a classroom and the other for the physical therapy room: Teachers and aides must change the positions of severely physically disabled students to assist with their circulation and provide variation in their day. Students must be moved into the bathroom for toileting. Some students need to be laid down to have diapers changed multiple times per day. Teachers and aides (mostly women) injure their backs, shoulders, necks and arms from lifting heavy, immobile students (dead weight) to get them into wheelchairs or other transport devices. Each student receives physical therapy and therapists need a lift system in the PT room to move students into position and work on various kinds of equipment.

Purpose of the grant - The Consortium wishes to purchase specialized equipment to meet the physical needs of students who cannot move without assistance. Many of the students are big and heavy to move. Teachers and aides injure themselves from lifting and moving students 10 or more times per day. They need Hoyer lift systems to safely move students. Students also need standers, walkers and slings so that can be mobile and not lay prone all day. Mobility is essential for health & wellness, as well as to access the curriculum.

About The Northshore Education Consortium

The Northshore Education Consortium supports its member districts by providing high quality, cost-effective public programs, support services and resources to ensure meaningful and successful learning experiences for a wide spectrum of students and staff. The Consortium will be a leader in influencing the development of public policy and building coalitions between and among districts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and solving the challenges faced by its member districts.