Jeter is blind, nonspeaking, and has cerebral palsy. Transporting Jeter was difficult because his family’s van could barely accommodate his customized wheelchair which cannot be folded. His mother, Luz, would have a tough time getting him in and out of the vehicle. These challenges limited his outings to only to doctors’ appointments and school.
Previously, Luz had to disassemble the wheelchair so it could fit in the trunk every time he had to travel somewhere. After doing this numerous times, his wheelchair began to fall apart. “Jeter’s 18 and he’s growing and getting taller, making it harder to transfer him to his adaptive car seat,” she said. “He was becoming more uncomfortable, and I think he was feeling unsafe. Transferring him from his bed to his wheelchair and then the car — I could see he was very upset and scared.”
When Luz decided that it was time for a new adapted vehicle, she was referred to PATF from a social worker in the adult transition department
Jeter’s mother, Luz (right in photo), with his caretaker (left), used a Low-Interest Loan to purchase an adapted van.
at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — a department for children and adult services. Jeter’s family received a Low-Interest Loan with a 3.75% interest rate to facilitate the purchase of an adapted Chevrolet Traverse. The terms of the loan were fair and flexible, providing the family with an affordable interest rate. Now Jeter can go out more often with his family, enjoy the company of his peers, and participate in community events.
He attends Widener Memorial School in Philadelphia — a school for children with disabilities. He is in the Multiple Disabilities Support Program, which provides services like special instruction as well as speech, occupational, and physical therapy, music, and aquatics therapy.
A nurse accompanies Jeter to school every day; he also has an aid for academic purposes that helps with his Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals. Luz shared that throughout the loan application process, Wendy Furman, then Program Associate and Underwriter, provided personalized details about options for funding, saying, “Wendy was very resourceful, having answers to all my questions every step of the way.
PATF has changed Jeter’s life, giving him freedom and the ability to spend more time with family, while integrating more into the community.” Jeter’s family also received a $20,000 grant from Fred’s Footsteps to help cover the cost of the vehicle.