In Cuernavaca, Mexico, cobblestone streets and sidewalks can wreak havoc on wheels and bearings. For people who get around using a wheelchair, a mechanical breakdown only exacerbates the social isolation they often face. But an enterprising group is training people with disabilities to fix wheelchairs – and even bringing the concept of roadside assistance to wheelchair users in other cities.
Erik Friend, a member of the Rotary Club of Cuernavaca-Juárez, Mexico, had been volunteering with a group called Autonomy, Liberation Through Movement (ALEM) and was intrigued by the simple efficacy of its vision and work. ALEM’s employees design, build, and repair standard and sports wheelchairs, recumbent tricycles, and other custom wheeled devices. They work out of a garage workshop in Cuernavaca and staff mobile units that travel to cities such as Puebla and Veracruz.
Other groups distribute wheelchairs, but ALEM is the only wheelchair repair operation in the state of Morelos. It provides an essential service in a place where new wheelchairs frequently break down within a year – and where people with disabilities are often viewed as unable to work. ALEM’s technicians also offer general welding, upholstery, and painting services.
Apartments, assisted living pitched in Mequon development
By Jeff Rumage
A developer is proposing to build an assisted living center, apartment building and commercial building next to the recently-completed Aster Memory Care facility at 6729 W. Mequon Road.
Lakeside Development Company is proposing to build a 60-unit resident care apartment complex south of Aster Memory Care Facility, an 86-unit apartment building southwest of Aster and a two-story, 26,200-square-foot mixed retail and office building west of Aster on Mequon Road. The four buildings will be worth an estimated $30 million.
Each of the four buildings will be located on separate parcels and owned by separate entities, but their parking lots will be connected through driveways.
The Mequon Plan Commission rezoned the property on Monday, Nov. 10, to allow for the redevelopment of the property. Known as Weston Center, several different layouts of the development have been approved over the past decade.
The proposed assisted living facility includes 60 residential units and is three stories tall. The facility will include a community dining room, spa and beauty salon, a country store and indoor parking. Roughly 40 employees will be employed at the facility. The development will have an estimated value of $9.7 million.
The apartment complex includes 86 luxury apartments and is three stories tall. There will be a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments ranging in size from 880 square feet to 1,606 square feet, with an average size of 1,087 square feet. The apartment building features underground parking, an indoor pool, community room and exercise facility.
The Community Service avenue of our Rotary club is partnering with the Volunteer Center of Ozaukee County for the this year’s holiday giving program. Will you help adopt a child in Ozaukee County & fulfill their holiday gift wish? We will be handing out gift tags over the next couple of weeks at Rotary. All you have to do is choose a tag, purchase the gift for that child, and return it unwrapped to our Rotary meeting.
Brenda Petersen, Executive Director of the Volunteer Center, will be collecting all of our items at the Rotary meeting on December 11th. If you can’t make it that day, we will gladly accept any and all gifts ahead of time. We will also accept cash donations if you are unable to purchase the items on your own. Lynn & Jennifer will shop for the items based on the donation amount, and we will bring it to Rotary on your behalf!
The Volunteer Center of Ozaukee County’s mission is to improve quality of life through people helping people. Last year, they served 249 families with 546 children for this special holiday gift giving program. The need increases each and every year.
Thank you for bringing a little joy to children in our community this holiday season!
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