Dear Lee,

We wanted to thank you for your recent assistance in our purchase of our 2010 Braun Companion Van SE. When it came time to replace our 2003 Braun Entervan (which we had also purchased from you), you and your staff were diligent in finding a competitively priced vehicle that suited our family’s needs. You also went the extra mile (literally) by meeting us in Durham to hand the vehicle over

We look forward to doing business again in the future with the Mobility Center of Virginia.

Sincerely,
Cathy and Duncan Haggart
Fletcher, NC

Tina,

As you recall, the moving of the EZ Lock base was scheduled for last Thursday, April 21. I took our van to the Mobility Center for that work and had a GREAT outcome. They finished the job much faster than I expected and were very pleasant and professional to deal with (as has been my experience in the past). I especially appreciated that they consulted with me about the placement of the wheelchair and that they mounted the base in such a way that it's actually easier than I had imagined to dock and undock the wheelchair. I'd like extend a big thank you to the gentlemen at the Mobility Center that I dealt with, Paul Tumelaire and Jeremy (the technician).

This weekend we used the EZ Lock to transport Kevin in his wheelchair several places and it works perfectly. Moving it has made taking Kevin places much easier since we don't have to swap him in and out of his wheelchair anymore. He was laughing his head off so evidently he's enjoying the change of position as much as we are.

Mark W.

Dear Mrs. Kaye Crenshaw

I am writing to express my sincere appreciation of the donation of parts, labor, and service on the 1990 Ford E150 wheelchair accessible van (VIN 1FDEE14N1LHA63421) with 53,333 miles.

Your generous donation will provide a person with a mobility impairment the benefit of independence and a higher quality of life. Thank you for your commitment to persons with disabilities in the community.

Sincerely,
Wannie B. Cook
President
National Wheelchair Sports Foundation

The Mobility Center of Virginia and Kaye Crenshaw did not receive any benefit for this donation or any control of its destination.

Dear Mr. Crenshaw,

My name is Bob Smith and I am an ID (Intellectual Disabilities) Youth Support Coordinator for the Loudoun Community Services Board. Last spring one of my families informed me that their 13 year old daughter, who has Cerebral Palsy and is non-ambulatory, needed a lift van in order to be transported to her doctors and in the community. She had grown so much that her family could no longer transport her in the family vehicle and it was becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous to try to transfer her from her wheelchair in and out of the family vehicle.

The family asked that I try to locate funds to help them purchase a used lift van since they had very little money that they could spend on a vehicle. I was able to locate funds from two other organizations (total of $3,000) to help pay for a lift van for the family. Their daughter has a Medicaid ID slot which could provide up to $5,000 for assistive technology (lift) but the quotes from lift providers in the Washington area were over $20,000 to install a lift. Medicaid Waiver will not help finance any vehicle new or used. The family didn't own a vehicle that could be modified with a lift. I located a possibility for a lift van that ECHO workshop offered to sell to the family for $2,000 in late May. After having the van evaluated by a nearby car dealer they determined that it would cost well over $8,000 just to get the vehicle to pass inspection. The mechanic thought it would cost much more to keep it running. Quotes for a serviceable lift van in Northern Virginia were all well over $10,000 and way out of the family’s price range even with their financial help. Since the daughter had an ID Waiver slot, I thought that the best route for the family to take would be to purchase a cheap van and then use the ID Waiver assistive technology money to purchase the lift. Unfortunately quotes for installing a lift in the metro area were all over $20,000.

I was told about Mobility Center of Virginia in Richmond who sold used lift vans for reasonable prices. I contacted you and you directed me to the inventory on line. I told the family and they looked at the inventory but there were no lift vans in their price range. In the meantime, the other two funding organizations had informed me that the offer of funds had a time limit and that since the family was not able to find a van that they would have to withdraw the offer very shortly. You offered to look for a cheaper van that was in good shape that was in the family's price range. You also said that you could install a lift for around $5,000. As you kept looking for a van for the family, I asked the two organizations if they could please extend the offer and I told them what the plans were to purchase a used van and then use the daughter's Medicaid Waiver funds to purchase a lift to be installed by Mobility Center of Virginia. I located another source of funding which brought the total of financial assistance to $5,000. In late summer, you found a van for around $6,000 that was in the price range of the funding assistance and what the family could afford. After securing the funds for the van, we still needed to get the Medicaid Waiver to approve the lift as assistive technology. The cost for the lift was actually $5,500 and I was able to secure $500 more to help pay for the lift and installation. The request was approved by Medicaid but Mobility still had to order the lift. The van and installed lift were completed right before Thanksgiving and my family was able to go to Richmond and pick up the van then. The family is very pleased with the van and they are able to transport their daughter now without the risk of injury to anyone. The process began in May and was finally completed at Thanksgiving and the family is very pleased and thankful.

I am very grateful for your generosity and your willingness to help, along with all the staff at the Mobility Center of Virginia. Your assistance was very helpful and made a big difference in the family's option to purchase a van and then add a lift. The plan was to hope to find a reasonable van and then hopefully have the Medicaid Waiver fund the lift. There was no other way that this plan could have come together or any guarantees that it would.

I truly appreciate your efforts, your generosity and your willingness to help. This could not have been possible without you and the Mobility Center of Virginia. Once again, my family and I thank you and we will remember your kindness.

Sincerely,
Bob Smith
ID Waiver Support Coordinator
Loudoun Community Service Board

Dear Sarah,

Steve and I just completed the process of purchasing a new accessible van from Lee Crenshaw and the staff at Mobility Center of Va. in Richmond. We want to share the experience with other PALS, along with some tips, taking you along for what turned out to be a rewarding experience. We are 'old hands' now at living with the requirements of having a top of the line disability and we like to share what we have learned with others. Walk a mile in my shoes - or in this case- come along with us for the ride.

Steve is ventilator dependent and drives a Permobil chairman power wheelchair. We have had 2 vans since 1999. The latest, a 2003 Dodge caravan was a step up for us in that it had an in-floor ramp versus a fold-down. The in-floor was a requirement for us as it provides more cabin room. Our search took us to dealers in Connecticut when we were on vacation there in late August. We were discouraged by the trade-in allowance and decided to come home to make a purchase. I am sure glad we did.

We knew that if we bought from a dealer in Virginia we would be able to take advantage of an agreement that some dealers have with the Virginia DMV. The new van could be titled and tagged for us. That is a bonus. We did our homework, talked to several dealers, felt discouraged as each tried to push vans on us that we did not want and offered little of substance in the way of a trade-in allowance.

Then we contacted Lee Crenshaw at Mobility Center of Va. Turns out he had what we were looking for- several Honda Odyssey vans with the in-floor ramp. Yes! We made the trip to Richmond and were given the royal treatment by Lee and Jason, a member of Mr. Crenshaw's sales staff. As it turns out, the VMI conversion which we wanted is not promoted by several dealerships that have fallen out of favor with VMI. That was an eye-opener. The Braun conversions sold by a number of the dealers have few options with in-floor ramp systems.

Mr. Crenshaw offered us a "too good to walk away from" consignment arrangement for our 2003 van and the purchase of a new Odyssey.

Everything worked. To perfection. Staffer Arlene drove the new van to us at home in Clifton, Virginia and took our van back to the dealership to be listed for sale. She expertly completed all paperwork and had everything in order for transfer of ownership. The new tags arrived on time, and lo and behold, our Dodge (which needed detailing and some body work that was cost prohibitive to us at the time) sold for very near the asking price.

Steve and I thank Mr. Crenshaw, Jason, and Arlene for everything they did to ensure a smooth, worry-free purchase of our new van. We would like to highly recommend the dealership to fellow PALS.

Say "Steve sent you". I can guarantee you'll be met with a smile; moreover, a very enjoyable experience and quite possibly, a fair deal awaits.

Sincerely,
Helene & Steve Nichols

Lee and Jason,

Thank you so much for your help in finding a van for us! It is such a blessing! With Max not being able to walk, he couldn't get into our pickup truck without someone lifting him in, so we felt "stuck"! We didn't want to ask friends or family all the time and looked for quite a while for the van. We looked at a lot and talked to several people after talking to you and Jason. We kept coming back to the Mobility Center, though, because we felt it was the right place! We were praying that God would lead us to the right one and "in His time" He did! We knew this was the one He was leading us to. Jason was so helpful from the beginning - he cared about us and this meant a lot! We know you're the Mobility Center of VA is a blessing many people and we thank you for what you do! You provide a wonderful service and we will definitely recommend others to you.

God Bless you all,
Jewell and Max Barnhouse

Mr. Crenshaw:

I want to thank you for the competent, friendly and kind customer service I received from your company. I needed a lift put in my minivan and I was trying to decide between two companies to do the install. I picked Mobility Center of VA because of the customer service. Since this is my first lift I had many questions and I am sure that I might have asked the same question twice. But no matter how many questions I had or how long he was on the phone with me, Jason was very patient. He took the time to explain in detail what each lift did and how it worked. I will recommend Mobility Center of VA to anyone who has mobility issues and needs help.

Thanks again, for the great customer service.

Karlyn
Karlyn Carroll
Registrar
Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia

Lee,

I want you to know that in my 42 years being a person with a disability, working on about my 5th or 6th adapted van, I rarely come across a company like yours that truly puts the customer first and goes out of its way to ensure that the person with a disability indeed gets what will best meets their needs. Every person I dealt with in your company was very helpful and respectful to me as a customer. I appreciate everything you all did for me including the cost of the van and build out, taking back equipment that you special ordered for me based on my first evaluation, and doing a great job in the conversion. I’m very confident that I'll be back on the road again soon, thanks to the great work your company did for me. You can expect future referrals from me in the future, as I will gladly let other people in the disability community know about how I was treated and served. I greatly appreciate everything you all did for me.

Sincerely,

Steve Johnson

Our experience with Lee and his family owned organization was exceptional!! He came in on his day off just to meet our daughter and build a van to meet her needs. We tried many vans to accommodate our daughters wheelchair size, and Lee demonstrated great patience as we worked through this process. We received the van at our house in record time and now we couldn't be happier!! Hannah loves her "New Wheels"!

Thanks Lee again for everything, please let us know if we can do anything else to help you and your family.

Jon, Traci & Hannah Fentress

I wanted to make you aware of one the companies that I work with when patients are in need of alternatives for safe patient transfers and wheelchair accessible vans. The Mobility Center of Virginia have been in business for 20+ years and have a knowledgeable, caring and stable staff that have been with them for years. The company is locally owned and they have a strong commitment to the community even in these difficult economic times. Their staff understands this disease and actually contact me to see how aggressive the disease is so that they are realistic in the product that they provide. They are very sensitive to our patient’s and family’s needs. They do not sell something to just make a sale.

They carry portable barrier free lifts and can bring it to your patient’s home, your support group or clinic for an exhibition and to educate. They also sell new and used wheelchair vans and can bring them out to your patient’s home or to support groups. They are very accommodating.

Several months ago, I had a family who had purchased a barrier free lift from another local dealer and the lift had broken. That dealer came out to fix the lift and accused my patient’s spouse of tampering with the lift, which never happened, voiding the warranty. This dealer claimed that the repair of the lift would cost at least $1,000. I asked the family to contact the Mobility Center of Virginia and ask for them to give an estimate for repair of the lift. The repair job went from being a $1,000 repair job by the company that installed the lift to a warranty covered repair job, costing under $200. It also turned out that the family were never given an operators manual on the lift, nor were they told that the installing company should have provided yearly checkups on the lift. The Mobility Center of Virginia took care of all of that.

They are the only dealer that I would ever think of purchasing a van from.

Sarah Stein, Patient and Family Services Coordinator
ALS Association DC/MD/VA Chapter

Dear Jason

Jane and I would like to tell you how happy we are with our new van. It has been all that we hoped for. As you know, this is the third van that we have purchased and we believe the best. We appreciate you and Lee giving us guidance and direction as we were making the decision. You never pushed us, indeed the opposite was true. We really felt that you had our best interests at heart. Our feeling during the whole experience was that we were dealing with a family, a family that cared.

The day that we picked up our new van proved to be memorable. It seems that the whole staff was working to make sure that we understood all the workings of our van and to make sure that all our questions were answered. Even the people in the service department were willing to spend as much time with us as necessary, and always with a smile on their faces.

We are looking forward to a long and meaningful relationship. We know that the entire staff of the Mobility Center of Virginia will always be ready to respond to any need or question that we might have.

Most sincerely,
Bill T.
Farmville, VA

We would like to express our thanks to the staff of the Mobility Center of Va for the wonderful year of service you have given to us and the disabled community. Whether it is your receptionist, bookkeeper, sales, van/wheelchair repair, or installation department, we know we can depend on qualified people. The dedication of all your personnel has saved us many hours of frustration and it is comforting to know you are available when we need assistance.

Again, thanks to each of you.

Harry & Julie Donald

"The Mobility Center of Virginia continues to be a wonderful experience for me. The equipment they have provided me has vastly expanded my capabilities and self-confidence. And the employees, particularly Jason Blackwell, have all been extremely helpful and accommodating.

The Mobility Center of Virginia is great and I strongly recommend it."

Thanks, Mike High

The Mobility Center of Virginia is such a wonderful company. The people that work there are so nice and kind and they really do care about you. A while back I had no way of getting my grown daughter out of bed and into the shower, well they heard about us and came out to look at how things were and before we knew it the Mobility Center of VA installed for my daughter a new roll in shower, and they even put in a Barrier Free Ceiling Lift in her room. Now, I can get her in and out of bed and into the shower with no problem. The Mobility Center people keep in touch with us to see how we are doing, you don't find a company such as this very often.

Thank you Mobility Center,
Carol and Tina