It didn’t take us long to learn that developing nations have a higher percentage of children with disabilities than North America. We would send as many pediatric wheelchairs as possible on each shipment. But when you have 15% of your shipment as pediatric wheelchairs and 40% of those showing up to receive a wheelchair are children, it’s hard to do a quality job.
In 1999 we were approached by 4 students in Dordt Collage’s senior design class who wished to design something for HHIM. We showed them 5,000 feet of ¾" aluminum tubing that had been donated by a pediatric wheelchair company. We also showed them, hundreds of new wheelchair forks, castors, wheels, hand rims and tires. What they designed was a durable frame that coupled the tube with recycled plastic.
Once we had the frame designed we took this to manufacturers, engineers, physical therapists, occupational therapists and rehabilitation technical suppliers to get input from them on how best to build a seating system that provided orthopedic support while also growing with the child. Today over 1,000 Hope Haven Children’s wheelchairs annually in 3 different sizes are manufactured in Ireton, Iowa with some parts made at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the Mike Durphy State Prison in Springfield, South Dakota.
We are also manufacturing the ROC chair at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. |
