Mission Statement Page

“Transforming lives by sharing the gift of mobility with the physically disabled poor in developing countries as motivated by Jesus Christ”.

TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO, the sight of a crippled Moroccan woman crawling across a dirt road planted a seed that germinated in 1999 when Don Schoendorfer, founder of Free Wheelchair Mission, invested his education and professional expertise as a PhD Mechanical Engineer to create a simple, rugged, and inexpensive wheelchair. The mental picture of the crawling woman's anguish and loss of dignity had haunted him for years until God opened a path for Dr. Schoendorfer.

FWM believes that when Jesus Christ lived in this world, He had special love for the sick and crippled. We try to share the same concern now for the poor, especially those with physical immobility. The chairs are distributed free to those in need, regardless of one's religious affiliation if any.

Plan

The first step was to develop the least expensive wheelchair satisfying the greatest range of needs, and the second step was to dispense the wheelchairs at no cost to the physically disabled poor in developing countries on a non-discriminatory basis. THE WHEELCHAIR uses simple common parts, easily assembled with little instruction, and the components nest together efficiently insuring modest shipping costs. The average cost to manufacture, ship and distribute a wheelchair is still under $52 despite increases in costs and inflation. An extraordinarily modest investment of under $52 still provides mobility, restores dignity, and gives someone and the associated family a chance for a better life

Assembly Instructions.

In wealthy countries, a disabled person can get a wheelchair, however, there are over 100,000,000 disabled adults and children for whom the dream of a wheelchair is worlds beyond their expectations. They live without this basic form of mobility by crawling through life or waiting for a loved one to carry them to fulfill the simplest of needs--the disabled and the family members are thereby restricted from a full life.

A small fractional percentage of these folks are served by charitable organizations which ship re-conditioned wheelchairs or conventional-design wheelchairs to poor countries - a very costly and inefficient process.

Our vision has been implemented by contracting with manufacturers in China. Please CLICK HERE to see a world map and statistics of deliveries. We've developed distribution partnerships with charitable organizations so that wheelchairs can be given free of charge.

This distribution chain is funded totally through donations from individuals, foundations, and grants. Our commitment to the vision is constantly enhanced by the astounding stories of life change in recipients and donors. We are building a stronger organization every month with tight control on overhead costs, and strong emphasis on quality control of the wheelchair. We also utilize an army of talented volunteers offering business expertise in numerous areas.