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This is why Brandon and BE run this marathon.
Brandon Lavoie (see below) and BE Alink (Founder of the Alinker) run this marathon to raise funds for two Alinkers, for a mother and her daughter who each need one. This campaign is to raise funds for these two women, who want to be in life again, engaged, active, independent, healthy and happy. See their story below.
We run this campaign to succeed.
All the funds that are raised in excess of the CAD $5600 required for the two Alinkers (including shipping, fees and support), will be paid forward to the other active campaigns, so don't be afraid to be radically generous. These campaigns change lives! 60 campaigns have already reached their goal, 60 people who could never afford an Alinker, now have their Alinker. That is impact!
Our "healthcare" system is in fact a reactive "sickcare" system that is not designed for our wellness. Instead it drives people into poverty. This platform gives voice to these people to inform and educate us what actually happens with you once you get a stroke, get an accident or finally get diagnosed. We can learn about how it affects people, about the results of living at the receiving end of our "sickcare" system. At the same time, these courageous campaigners give us an opportunity to show up as a generous human being. Being generous makes us feel better, as generosity actually resonates with who we are.
Together we can bridge the divide and build a beautifully generous community. If we show up for each other, we don't need to be so scared anymore when life presents us with our vulnerability. We are all mortal and in life we are vulnerable creatures, the one thing we have in common with every other human being. In that vulnerability, we have a beautiful chance to connect with each other.
Show up because together we are better.
That is why Brandon and BE run this marathon.
Brandon Lavoie, 28 years of age, married to Emily, father of 2 boys (1 and 3), lives in Kentucky and lives with MS and CRPS. Selma Blair gifted him an Alinker which changed his life. Alinker team. Follow him on Instagram at: @stringfellow_deeds
BE Alink, 55, lives in Montreal, inventor and founder of the Alinker, follow her on Instagram at: @be_alink
This is the story and campaign text of Isabel and Aracely for who we run this marathon:
Aracely wrote us: Instead of one Alinker, I need two.
I believe the Alinker is a perfect gift for OUR graduation (my mother & I). It would support my mother’s overall wellbeing and give me the freedom to focus on the crucial work that needs to be done for our communities.
The thing is that I am hoping , through the generosity of others, that I may raise enough funds to obtain an Alinker for myself and one for my mother. It’s all or nothing. This means that, either we both get this unique mobility assist, or neither of us gets one - honestly, it’s sort of fitting because we’ve gotten through all of our ups and downs together. Let me start by telling you about my mother.
My mother, Isabel, is 57yo and lives in Tennessee with her husband of eight years. I would love more than anything to gift her an Alinker because my mother worked so hard her whole life. After many years of arduous labor-work, she became disabled in 2012 due to spinal disc injury, which required multiple surgeries.
My mother grew up in México and was never allowed a primary education. As a result of this experience, she always went out of her way to support my sister and I’s academic endeavors and extracurricular activities. Despite being an immigrant and a single-parent with few employment options, she always found a way to make ends meet. In fact, she often recruited my labor work to help with making tamales, sweet bread, flower arrangements, you name it. We were those street vendors selling flowers on mother’s day, or tamales at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mother did this on top of working her full-time job. Even after becoming disabled, whenever I began struggling to make ends meet, she managed to stretch her fixed income to support me with finishing my education while juggling a long undiagnosed and untreated autoimmune disease.
As for me, I am a 35yo female currently living in Los Angeles, CA. I completed my PsyD in Clinical Psychology on September 1st, 2019 and I am specialized in the area of Forensic Psychology. Although I began my doctoral program in 2008, I was delayed from 2014 to 2018 after I suffered a severe decline in my health. Although I struggled with chronic pain symptoms since childhood, I was always told there was nothing wrong with me. Because I wanted to make sure I finished my degree, I decided to focus on stabilizing my health and finishing my final academic requirement, the dissertation thesis. After multiple doctors, moving from city to city, even relocating from Texas to California, frequent job changes, and even being hit by a drunk driver in 2017, I was finally diagnosed with Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis in April of 2019 and I was able to start treatment immediately. Although I am feeling so much better than I did at the beginning of this mess, my knees are constantly in pain which has limited my ability to move and stand for more than a few minutes.
Although my mother has a walker and a wheelchair, these devices do not appear to best meet her current needs as she remains interested in living a fairly active lifestyle has fallen twice this year. Additionally, my mother and her husband are currently strained financially with the costs of her disability and helping my stepsister with her chronic illness expenses, as well as their continued willingness to offer me assistance, should I again run into difficulties meeting my medical or basic living expenses.
My mother and I always lived very active and independent lifestyles which I believe would be supported by the Alinker. As I continue my medical treatment and set out to secure gainful employment in the area of Forensic Psychology, my hope is that the use of a mobility assist like Alinker may help me to re-engage confidently in activities that support my health and wellbeing, as well as my professional endeavors and advocacy efforts in the areas of mental health and criminal justice.
The campaigns are about sharing. Most people have no idea what life is like when you live with MS or what happens after you have a stroke. Isolation is often a bigger problem than the symptoms of the disease itself. With the campaigns we can share and educate people, because it can happen to all of us. When we create a movement where people simply show up for each other, it might get a bit ‘safer’ and less ‘scary’ to engage with each other. Some people share their experiences on their campaign, others share their funds to support the campaigns. It is not about asking for money, it is creating an opportunity for people to learn and show up with #generosity. Being generous resonates with who we are as humans. We understand generosity deeply and when you practice it, you feel so much better
PLEASE NOTE
- The campaigns are in Canadian $ (back end requirement on our side), the $2800 CAD includes the Alinker, shipping, process and campaign fees and our support.
- The campaigns are all or nothing, no credit cards are charged unless the campaign reaches its goal.
- As soon as the campaign reaches its goal, we ship an Alinker.
- Campaigners do not handle money. On disability or welfare, you cannot handle money without being penalized, but you can receive an Alinker !
- When the campaign raises more than the goal, the campaigner can chose another campaign where we then make the donation to, paying it forward, or get the balanced paid out, the choice is the campaigner's.
- If you want to start a campaign and are outside Canada or the USA, write an email to molly@thealinker.com. We can get a shipping quote to where you live, and include that in the campaign goal.
Together we build a movement of kindness and generosity, because we all need it
Why do we facilitate crowdfunding on our site?
We believe that the Alinkers should be available for everybody, regardless of income and people who start a crowdfunding campaign here, will have access to a life changing Alinker. Did you see how happy Selma Blair is using her Alinker? Her anxiety dropped from level 10 to 2 after she got back on her new Alinker. She is so happy and so on with this new invention, that she wants to create a fund to get people access to Alinkers. These crowdfunding campaigns are the first step to make Alinkers available for everybody. Selma and BE are now putting their energy together to build a generous community around all the campaigners! The campaigners are people who allow others to show up generously, give them love!
Why an Alinker?
Generally, medical devices are a technical solution for a body with a
problem.
The Alinker is designed for who we are, a whole human
being, who wants to live an active and engaged life. We are a human,
we have a body. Whether we miss a leg of have MS, it does not change
us as a person.
Yet the world we live in, treats us as a body with a problem, which creates a social divide between people based on their body, based on what we have, not on who we are. Isolation and loneliness are more devastating than the disease itself. So we need to show up for each other, acknowledge each other and be present to who we are.
These campaigns are here to bridge the gap between a high quality custom Alinker, and the people who live at the receiving end of a 'sickcare' system that drives people into poverty.
So, show up, be radically generous, it is something we humans really understand.
When you read each story in each campaign, pause and imagine who
that person is, and why they started the campaign, reach out to them,
let them know they are surrounded and seen, heard and not alone. When
we do that, we feel better and create a safer community where we know
we can show up for each other. It connects us with our essence, we are
radically generous creatures, we just got a little lost in systems
that are not designed for our wellness.
Who is the Alinker for?
The Alinker is for people who want to stay active, regardless of mobility challenges.
To operate and use the Alinker you must have the ability to:
- walk to some degree
- flex and extend your legs
- bear weight on one leg briefly while getting on and off the Alinker
- be consciously aware of your surroundings
- be aware of your ability and limitations
What is the Alinker?
The Alinker is an exceptionally cool, three-wheeled walking bike
for humans with mobility constraints. It’s not a medical device,
it’s a lifestyle tool, designed to enable users to lead active and
socially engaged lives — at eye level.
On the Alinker, users sit upright -- at eye level with standing
companions. Weight is supported by the seat with no stress on the
lower body, while handle bars provide additional support. Feet remain
on the ground, keeping users stable and safe.
Together we'll make this work, in kindness and from the heart
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