News Release: $42,500 grant received for a new Balance van.

Balance is extremely grateful to the Melitta S. and Joan M. Pick Charitable Trust for providing Balance with a $42,500 grant to purchase a new van!

The new van will replace one of our older vans and assist with the transportation needs for our five programs. We are planning to replace one of our older, rear-entry wheelchair minivans with a new eight-passenger minivan.

This will provide the following benefits:

Increased capacity: With two staff members we would be able to fit six participants in the new van. In our current rear-entry wheelchair minivans, we are only able to fit three or four participants, given the 250-pound weight limit on the back bench seat.

Easy drivability - In contrast to our larger vans, minivans are more easily parked close to building entrances and less difficult for our staff to drive. Paula, a staff member who regularly drives participants on daily outings, says, “Driving the Transit vans on windy days can be very scary as they are significantly taller and get pushed around more by the wind.”

Better fuel economy: Minivans get about 19 city mpg and 28 highway mpg vs. the larger Transit vans which get about 13 city mpg and 17 highway mpg.

Reduced maintenance: In 2022, we put over 105,000 (mostly city) miles on our vehicles. And with one of our vans approaching 150,000 miles, we are spending a significant amount per year on maintenance fees. Balance has a goal of having newer vehicles to reduce our repair costs. In 2022 we spent $12,000 on repairs and in 2021 repair costs exceeded $23,500.

Increased safety: A new vehicle will decrease the likelihood of leaving staff and our clients with disabilities stranded in a broken vehicle.