North Austin Business Donates Wheelchairs In Costa Rica

NORTH AUSTIN, TEXAS — In late October, Sydney Greenwalt took a trip to Costa Rica, bearing gifts for residents of the Central American country. By the time she returned to Austin, she was imbued with a sense into the magnitude of a gift bestowed to her in return.

In late October, Greenwalt, owner of Right at Home senior care services franchise in North Austin, was accompanied by Director of Employee Relations Casey Sechler on the trip that was intended as a goodwill initiative organized by Free Wheelchair Mission. They hardly went empty-handed, taking along more than 60 wheelchairs for people in need.

The trip was an offshoot of a national partnership with Free Wheelchair Mission forged in April 2017 given similar missions between the two groups aimed "...to improve the quality of life for those we serve." The dual missions were so aligned, Right at Home raised $60,000 the same week of their introduction to the philanthropic group two years ago, Greenwalt noted.

During a recent telephone interview, Greenwalt described vividly the sights and sounds of Buena Costa, Costa Rica, in the first trip to Latin America for the native of the Texas Gulf Coast city of Galveston.

"There was a lady in her early 30s with a brain tumor," Greenwalt related to Patch, describing the young woman whose mobility had been impaired as a result of the abnormal growth of tissue. "There were quite a few children, a lot of them with cerebral palsy — one as young as seven years old. One of the older individuals was in her late 80s, and a teen girl was 18."

One of the residents of the Costa Rican town benefiting from the gift of a wheelchair was Ervin, 35, who was paralyzed after a tragic spinal cord injury that happened when he was just 18 years old. The new wheelchair ensured his independence given the ability to be mobile again, enabling him to enjoy life’s simple pleasures so many of us take for granted — spending time outside or going to the neighborhood supermarket for his family.

"It was eye-opening and heartbreaking to see so many children in those conditions," Greenwalt said. "My impression there was a very high amount of poverty. A lot of them can't get an education at school because they have no public transportation."

A simple wheelchair itself — so easily obtainable and paid for via insurance or other means in American society — serves as apt metaphor for things often taken for granted in the U.S., not unlike those aforementioned simple pleasures of life like going outside for fresh air or shopping at the supermarket. Yet for those receiving the manual wheelchairs in Costa Rica, the gift was life-changing.

"Some of them had borrowed wheelchairs from church or school they would have to return," Grenwalt said. "I can't imagine having this gift of mobility only to have it ripped from them."

The donated wheelchairs were tailor-made for the tough Costa Rican terrain, much of it unpaved, affixed with larger wheels than those found in standard models, Greenwalt noted. Yet even with the life-changing donation, the grinding poverty of Costa Rica prompted some of the beneficiaries to ask the American visitors if they might also provide food, diapers, household items and other of life's necessities, Greenwalt said. As a result, she's now busy planning a return trip to deliver more aid while plotting another goodwill trip — perhaps to Vietnam, she said — to distribute more wheelchairs.

Greenwalt launched her own Right at Home franchise after seeing her mom run one in her hometown of Galveston. "I got my degree in design," she said, "working two years in a field that wasn't fulfilling to me. Running the franchise is extremely busy, bu it is the most rewarding thing. It feels like a mission, not going to work, each day."

The franchise helps elderly and disabled people stay at home, offering a range of tailored services to heighten clients' quality of life. Greenwalt has been involved with Right at Home for a dozen years now, buying the local franchise when it became available nine years ago.

For Sechler, going on the trip was inspired by personal experience, Greenwalt noted. Her employee expressed a desire to help those less fortunate after dealing with medical issues endured by her brother for whom she served as caregiver.

So what was that gift Greenwalt was given in return upon arriving back to Austin? It was the gift of perspective so often lost on many. "It's kind of made my life much easier," Greewalt said of the experience. "Every time I think of getting frustrated, I remember that we have it pretty great."

According to Free Wheelchair Mission, more than 70 million people in the world are in need of a wheelchair but are unable to afford it. For more information on the group's mission, to become a distribution partner or donate to the cause, click here.

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>>> Photos courtesy of Right at Home