Exploring Life & Business with May We Help

Today we’d like to introduce you to May We Help.

Thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started with The Three Bills!

In 2003 (before Kindle!), an engineer named Bill Wood met a young lady with cerebral palsy who loved to read books but was using a pencil in her mouth to turn the pages, so Bill designed a device for her that turned the pages with the gentle push of a button.

About the same time, factory owner Bill Deimling was adapting assistive devices for a family friend with a disability. The friend’s physical therapist introduced the two Bills, and they joined forces to fill an as yet unmet need: to create custom, commercial-grade assistive devices for people with disabilities.

Then, as fate would have it, one day when the two Bills were meeting at Bill Deimling’s factory, a third Bill – an engineer named Bill Sand – bumped into them, and the idea for May We Help was born.

Today, May We Help consists of 75 volunteer engineers, industrial designers, inventors, welders, woodworkers, seamstresses, doctors, occupational and physical therapists who come together to design, build, and deliver custom devices at no cost to hundreds of people every year.

In addition, MWH works closely with organizations like Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to meet the needs of their patients and clients. In fact, 20% of May We Help projects originate with CCHMC therapists and doctors.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been a smooth road with steady growth – up until fairly recently! In the last few years, the demand for May We Help’s services has grown tremendously:

Projects Delivered
– 2021: 365
– 2020: 276 (does not include Face Shield project)
– 2019: 268
– 2018: 186

And in order to keep up with the growth, last year, we implemented a project management system, and in 2022, we’re undertaking a $125,000 renovation of our facility!

The renovation will provide more space for volunteers to work on projects and more space for inventory for the Adaptive Equipment Swap.

We’ve been impressed with May We Help, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sometimes, a device is all that stands in the way of an individual with a disability achieving independence or pursuing their passion. And when that device is not available in the marketplace, that’s when May We Help’s team of volunteer engineers, industrial designers, inventors, welders, woodworkers, seamstresses, doctors, OTs and PTs step in. They design, build and deliver one-of-a-kind custom devices at no cost to hundreds of people every year.

In addition, May We Help also provides these services to the community:

1. Adaptive Equipment Swap: May We Help’s Adaptive Equipment Swap matches people with disabilities with life-changing equipment free of charge! We held our first swap in March 2019, and since then have matched over 400 people with over $1.5 million worth of equipment.

Here’s how it works: May We Help welcomes donations of clean and functional pediatric and adult equipment. Then, approximately every 90 days, we hold an Adaptive Equipment Swap and invite the community to take home any equipment they need – free of charge!

Not only do we provide the equipment at May We Help’s Adaptive Equipment Swaps, we also provide:

• on-site physical therapists who provide guidance to ensure that individuals and families are matched with the right equipment
• on-site modification experts who make on-site fittings and modifications to the equipment in order to ensure comfort and optimize efficacy

2. Annual Halloween Festival On Halloween, if you have a power chair, you can be the envy of everyone on the block! That’s because May We Help volunteers team up with UC Theatre Arts students to build one-of-a-kind costumes that recipients debut at May We Help’s Annual Halloween Festival.

3. Tinkered Toys for the Holidays Many young children with disabilities don’t have the strength or dexterity to play with toys designed for their age group. Typical toys for them have cranks, levers, and dials that these kids can’t operate. So, May We Help volunteers – in partnership with community groups like Turner Construction and McNicholas High School students – adapt toys so kids can operate them with the gentle push of a button!

And if that’s not enough, the adapted toys are distributed to the kids by none other than Santa himself, who visits May We Help every year!

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I love this question! Yes, I am a risk-taker! In fact, every time I’ve taken the DISC Personality Test, it reports that I am a risk-taker!

But part of my background is in strategic thinking, plus May We Help has a very strong Board with lots of smart thinkers, wisdom and experience, so the risks we take are quite calculated!

Truth be told, though, there’s not a lot of room to play it safe in the disability space, or any space, for that matter, where there are needs and inequities. Because while lots of fantastic things are happening in our community for people living with disabilities, there are still needs that the status quo is not meeting.

That’s why May We Help added the Adaptive Equipment Swap, Halloween Festival and Tinkered Toys programs: to meet unmet needs in the community!

All were added in the last three years, and all were the result of observing the community, identifying unmet needs, and implementing new programming wherever our organizational capabilities intersected with those needs.

Contact Info:

• Email: workshop@maywehelp.org
• Website: https://maywehelp.org
• Instagram: @may_we_help
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/May-We-Help-126215084100967/