CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina woman living with several disabilities was gifted a new wheelchair-accessible van that her family said will make a huge difference in her quality of life.
Jasmine Belk was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy at birth. The 33-year-old is nonverbal, has stage-three kidney disease and is totally dependent on her mother to take care of her.
Belk's mother had a wheelchair van for nearly 20 years but it was totaled in a crash back in 2020. Since then, the Winston-Salem family has gone without the right kind of vehicle, requiring Belk's mother to life Jasmine in and out of their 10-year-old car for the last four years.
"This vehicle is going to open up hundreds of doors for me and my daughter," Pauling said.
The van was a donation from All Things Possible, a Fort Mill-based nonprofit that gifts wheelchair vans to families in need. Since its founding over a decade ago, the organization has helped deliver dozens of vans through its fundraising efforts.
"We have a vehicle now that can get her her medicine when we need it," Pauling said. "She's been isolated at home without personal transportation. Now she can go out with her friends, peers and family. We can go to events around the area. Her whole world is going to change, her quality of life is going to change and her life is enhanced tremendously."
For Jasmine and her mother, this van is the start of a new chapter. When Pauling saw it sitting on the showroom floor, she wasn't aware it was hers until she was handed the keys.
"I just couldn't believe it," she said. "It's a beautiful vehicle. It's perfect. It's beyond what I ever could've dreamed of."
Pauling said she and Jasmine have a long list of places they're ready to see, starting with a trip to the farmers market that many of us take for granted.
"We're going to see friends, the people who have been praying for us," she said. "We're going to get in the car and take a tour of the region, there are so many things we want to do and this will be wonderful for Jasmine."
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