Freehold Woman Helps Bring Wheelchairs, Smiles To Those In Need

FREEHOLD, NJ — Darlene Bosco spends her days making people's lives easier.

Bosco, who owns a local franchise of Right at Home, a home health care company that serves 300 clients in Ocean and southern Monmouth counties, makes sure her clients have everything from around-the-clock care to assistance with housework and basic companionship.

"You try to give them that love they can't get from someone else," said Bosco, a Freehold resident, whether it's because family members are too far away or because they don't have family at all.

Rarely do her clients lack what most see as basic medical supplies, however. Crutches, walkers, wheelchairs are commonplace implements in the homes of those served by Right at Home health aides.

In other parts of the world, however, wheelchairs are extremely difficult to obtain. According to the Free Wheelchair Mission, there are 70 million people around the world who need wheelchairs. Thanks to a partnership between Free Wheelchair Mission and Right at Home, there are 35 people in Costa Rica who now have them.

Bosco, who lives in Freehold, was part of a trip organized by Right at Home's corporate offices and its CEO, Brian Petranick, to donate and deliver wheelchairs to people in need in the Central American country. It was an experience she won't soon forget.

"I was so grateful to meet such loving, caring people," Bosco said of the trip, which happened Oct. 30 through Nov. 4. "All they want to do is get out and get around."

There was 9-year-old Bianca, who is paralyzed from the waist down. Her parents work, so she has to rely on other family members to help her get around the house during the day.

"When we pulled up in the van, she was on the floor, smiling. She crawled on the floor to get around the house," Bosco said.

And when Bosco lifted her up and put her in the wheelchair?

"All she did was smile and kiss me," Bosco said. "She may not be able to play soccer but now she can go out and be outside with friends."

Being able to get out of their homes and socialize is tremendously important, Bosco said, in a community where technology doesn't rule lives.

"All they have is each other," she said.

Another wheelchair went to a man named Carlos, who had not been out of the house since he had been moved in with his daughter and her family.

"He had never met his neighbors," Bosco said. But as soon as he was settled in his wheelchair, "he was gone."

"His daughter was pushing him down the street and his grandchildren were on his lap and he was just smiling away," Bosco said.

"It's greatest feeling in the world when you're making someone smile," Bosco said.

Right at Home announced its national partnership with the Free Wheelchair Mission in April, and because they both aim to improve the quality of life for those they serve.

Betty Harris, vice president of RightTeam, part of Right at Home's corporate structure, said Right at Home had been looking to join forces with a community service organization and the more Petranick learned about Free Wheelchair Mission, the more they realized it was a perfect fit for what the company already does in terms of making people's lives easier.

When the corporate office announced the plan to go to Costa Rica, they sought volunteers and had so many they had to do a drawing for the 12 slots on the trip, which was how Bosco was chosen, Harris said. Those who went paid for the $3,000 in travel expenses either through donations or directly out of their pockets, said Harris, who was among those on the trip. They also held fundraisers to provide as many wheelchairs as possible.

"It was overwhelming," she said. "To be right there and see the familuies struggles and then see the change, it was immediate."

When Carlos received his wheelchair, "his face lit up. The look of relief on his face and his daughter's face was just humbling," Harris said. The effort touches Harris personally: her son was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair daily.

"We've been so fortunate," Harris said. There were people they met in Costa Rica who had been getting around using homemade crutches or other implements. One woman had a cane that had been made out of a coat rack, she said.

"To think that someone has to exist without (a wheelchair) is hard to imagine," Harris said.

Bosco said the effort to help in Costa Rica was exactly what she does every day: trying to make people's lives simple, whether they're veterans who need help getting to and from the Veterans Administration hospitals for doctors' appointments or a senior who needs help in her home.

"Our veterans served our country, and we serve them," she said, "and it's very important that we do what we can for our seniors."

"It's very rewarding," Bosco said.

Darlene Bosco helps Debra, an 82-year-old woman, into her new wheelchair. Debra lives with her daughter, Sunidi, and the wheelchair will allow her to get around town and see her grandchildren. Photos provided by Right at Home