36 Helping the Frail Elderly – All Over the USA DIGNITY AND COMFORTABLE MOBILITY The mission of the Rose Art Foundation – Living with Dignity (LWD) is to improve the “quality of life” for the non-ambulatory by supplying specially built wheelchairs that look like a recliner chair on wheels. They supply padded wheelchairs to immobile patients who suffer from debilitating diseases, dementia, paralysis, stroke, or in some cases age related infirmities who may be bound to wheelchairs or bedridden for the rest of their lives. Providing care for frail and infirmed seniors who are not ambulatory is extremely challenging. Spending almost the entire day in either a bed or a conventional wheel chair is both sad and depressing. In 4 years LWD has bought and delivered 617 chairs to nursing homes throughout the USA (in Florida, New York, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Washington DC) and to 3 Nurse Visiting Services for those aging in place. These chairs make it easier for aides and caregivers, for which there always seems to be a shortage, to get their patients into a comfortable position. The chair lets them be more comfortable when sitting for meals, physical therapy, napping or attending activities, and while spending quality time with their loved ones. The chair reduces their suffering and the humiliation of struggling to “transfer” from bed to wheelchair, wheelchair to chair, back to wheelchair. Not only do these chairs allow for patient comfort and time-saving for staff, they allow the elderly to function with dignity. LWD has no staff, rent, or overhead, and all the funds they receive is used to purchase recliners. Buying in bulk, LWD pays only $375 per chair verses the over $900 retail price. We have made $50,000 in grants (mostly challenge grants) to LWD in the last three years which was enough to buy 135 chairs but because most of our grants were Challenge Grants we are responsible for improving the quality of life of more than 225 seniors. HOT wants to encourage its donors to help buy 100 more chairs so it will match from its undesignated funds, any designated gifts up to a maximum of $1,875 per donor up to an aggregate of $18,750. That means any donor who designates $187.50 to this program will be responsible for a major change in the quality of life of a senior. $909 retail, only $187.50 through HOT – almost 5-to-1 leverage AND the knowledge you have helped a senior be more comfortable and retain his/her dignity.