f{"id":5404,"date":"2017-06-30T11:30:12","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T18:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=5404"},"modified":"2017-06-30T11:30:12","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T18:30:12","slug":"wheelchair-repair-program-lifeline-disabled-particularly-streets-natalie-orenstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/06\/30\/wheelchair-repair-program-lifeline-disabled-particularly-streets-natalie-orenstein\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Wheelchair repair program a lifeline for the disabled \u2014 particularly on the streets&#8221; by Natalie Orenstein"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_263027\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263027 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-John-1.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Benson, called \u201cCripple A\u201d by his clients, repairs a wheelchair in his Emeryville shop. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>June 28, 2017 (berkeleyside.com)<\/p>\n<p>On a recent morning, Benjamin Royer was doing donuts in his electric wheelchair. He spun round and round and round in the empty Emeryville parking lot outside the Easy Does It wheelchair repair shop, giggling loudly the whole time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have to admit I\u2019ve had this thing up in the air for a second or two,\u201d he said, though he did not offer to demonstrate.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"post-aside medium\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_226636\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-226636 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/SFHomeless_long_thumb.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/SFHomeless_long_thumb.jpg 500w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/SFHomeless_long_thumb-200x105.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/SFHomeless_long_thumb-360x189.jpg 360w\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"263\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This article is part of a Bay Area-wide media effort to focus coverage on people experiencing homelessness. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/tag\/berkeley-homeless-project-2017\/\">Read Berkeleyside\u2019s full day of coverage<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Royer, who is experiencing homelessness and lives in Berkeley, had not come to the repair shop just to show off his maneuvers. He had dropped in to fix the wheels on a walker that belonged to another homeless friend of his. He\u2019d clearly been to the shop enough times to know his way around, plucking the right parts from the shelves and digging up a basket that could hold the <i>Street Spirit<\/i>\u00a0newspapers his friend sells. He screwed it onto the walker and admired his handiwork.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s going to hit the floor when she sees this thing,\u201d said Royer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what you\u2019re trying to prevent!\u201d joked John Benson, who runs the shop with another part-time staffer and some volunteers.<\/p>\n<p>Benson has been providing repairs and loaner chairs to Berkeley\u2019s disabled population for years. He is one of the many long-time employees of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.easydoesitservices.org\/\">Easy Does It<\/a>, a city-supported nonprofit that provides emergency services to Berkeley residents with physical disabilities. Launched by disability rights advocates in 1994, the organization took off in 1998, when Berkeley\u2019s Measure E created a property improvements tax to fund emergency assistance for severely physically disabled residents. Advocates of the tax easily earned the support of the police and fire departments, who were overwhelmed by emergency calls from people who found themselves stranded with a flat wheelchair tire or unable to get into bed when their attendant was a no-show. Since then, Easy Does It has offered emergency attendant care, accessible transportation and, a bit more recently, equipment repair.<\/p>\n<p>Now the organization averages 3,000 calls a year, from a variety of seniors, students and others. The homeless clientele, although still a fraction of the total Easy Does It client base, is growing \u201cexponentially,\u201d said Benson. Most of the clients experiencing homelessness request his services, and he responds to about seven of their calls each week.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_263028\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263028 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Ben-3.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Benjamin Royer leaves the Easy Does It repair shop with a walker he has fixed up for his friend. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_263029\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263029 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-ben-1.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Benjamin Royer, who does not have a permanent home, got his electric wheelchair from John Benson at Easy Does It, so he returns the favor by volunteering in the shop. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For several years, Benson ran the repair shop out of a small space he rented in the old Macaulay Foundry building in West Berkeley. When he and other tenants were forced out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/2015\/11\/22\/breaking-fires-hit-west-berkeley-and-southside\/\">after a fire<\/a> brought safety hazards to light, it turned out to be blessing in disguise for Benson. He had built up a \u201cmountain\u201d of donated wheelchair parts and pieces, which are now organized on neat, if jam-packed, shelves in the spacious Harlan Street shop. There is a fabrication space under a loft Benson built, and rows of rubber wheels, battery packs and cushions. In the center of the space are a number of second-hand wheelchairs, many donated by people who have upgraded models or whose family members have died, leaving their chairs behind.<\/p>\n<p>But Benson spends most of his time outside the shop. In the morning he checks in with his dispatcher, who tells him who has called in to request new bolts, or who is stuck on such-and-such sidewalk because their tires pooped out. Benson loads up his minivan and responds to about five or six calls a day. Some of his clients call him \u201cCripple-A,\u201d a play on AAA \u2014 because they call him up when they have a roadside emergency.<\/p>\n<p>Benson began working as an attendant with Easy Does It while studying at UC Berkeley in the 1980s, until he caught a client who fell out of their chair, sustaining a severe injury that prevented him from doing attendant work any longer. After working as a driver with Easy Does It for awhile, Benson launched the repair program. He had grown up with a mother who used a wheelchair, and around car culture in the Rust Belt, so he already knew a thing or two about mechanics.<\/p>\n<p>Benson, who has a wild beard and moonlights as a musician, is the kind of guy who knows everyone. He is close with the activists whose grassroots disability rights work put Berkeley at the front of the movement, and some are still clients of his. But the demographics of Berkeley and the clientele of Easy Does It, have changed dramatically over the years. Aging Baby Boomers mean attendants are responding to more calls from seniors, said Nikki Brown-Booker, the executive director of Easy Does It.<\/p>\n<p>For Benson, \u201cThere\u2019s been a huge shift. A lot of those [activists] have passed away, and the homeless population has increased significantly.\u201d Preliminary findings from the most recent count show Berkeley\u2019s homeless population at 972, up 16% since 2015 and more than 50% since 2009. And Benson\u2019s homeless clients have unique needs and circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey live outdoors, people steal their stuff, and some have never used a chair before,\u201d he said. A lot of people who could use a wheelchair or other assistive equipment \u201cfall through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A few months ago, for example, he met a woman who said she and her four-year-old granddaughter had come from Las Vegas after the city gave them a one-way bus ticket to Berkeley. (A Las Vegas spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for confirmation). The pair was living in the bushes behind a fraternity, and couldn\u2019t easily leave the area because the grand-mother had trouble walking. Benson brought her an electric scooter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow she brings her granddaughter to daycare. She\u2019s able to ride between her knees on the scooter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Royer said he was using a manual chair when Benson approached him. Because of his disability, \u201csometimes I get too tired to lift a finger, literally,\u201d Royer said. \u201cThis thing\u2019s got the power that\u2019s necessary to get around,\u201d he said of the electric wheelchair Benson gave him, though he has to spend a lot of time at the public library to charge it.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_263030\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263030 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-2.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Benson tests out a potential chair for Kaye Lamaestra\u2019s (right) friend, while her fianc\u00e9e Alex Noonan gives her input. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_263031\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263031 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-kaye-1.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Benson and Kaye Lamaestra joke around in the shop. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Easy Does It clients pay a $15 hourly copay for the subsidized attendant, transportation and repair services, and $15 to pick up or drop off loaner equipment, though Benson said he does not collect fees from homeless clients.<\/p>\n<p>Many clients who do have financial means say they depend on the repair program too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of the wheelchair repair shops are disappearing,\u201d said a long-time Berkeley resident and Easy Does It client Tim, who did not want to give his last name. \u201cWhen that started happening, John started doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaye Lamaestra, a youth arts therapist, said she has a \u201cbourgie\u201d chair \u2014 the same kind Stephen Hawking uses. But \u2018\u201cwhen one part breaks, the whole thing breaks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe process of ordering tiny little parts takes so long, it\u2019s incredible to be able to come here,\u201d said Alex Noonan, Lamaestra\u2019s fianc\u00e9e. However, all the parts they can find in the shop are somewhat, if not quite, used. Benson said he has undergone the training required to sell new parts from high-end brands, but in order to become certified to do so, the companies would require him to stop selling used parts as well \u2014 hardly a feasible proposition for a program fueled by donations.<\/p>\n<p>Lamaestra and Noonan had come to the shop the same day as Royer, and for the same reason: to pick up something for a friend in need. An able-bodied friend of Lamaestra\u2019s had just gotten in a terrible accident that nearly paralyzed him from the waist down, and he needed his first chair.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_263032\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263032 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-shop-3.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The packed shelves in John Benson\u2019s Emeryville repair shop. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lamaestra and Royer are two of the many clients who come volunteer in the shop to offer their thanks.<\/p>\n<p>Surveying the shop that afternoon, Lamaestra began to devise ways she could help out this summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need some plants,\u201d she said, eyeing the shelves stocked with drab metal and rubber. \u201cSome ivy would look good.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>On a roll against the odds<\/h3>\n<p>Benson subscribes to the independent living ethos developed by <a href=\"http:\/\/bancroft.berkeley.edu\/collections\/drilm\/\">students and activists with disabilities in Berkeley in the 1960s and 1970s<\/a>. (Berkeley\u2019s renowned Center for Independent Living has been replicated in countless other places across the country.) The approach respects the self-determination of people with disabilities and assumes they and their disabled peers know what kind of support they need to live comfortably and be part of a community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis organization was created by disabled people, and they really pushed the idea that the medical movement is wrong,\u201d Benson said. (He is able-bodied but many of the other staff and all the board members are not.) \u201cIf you\u2019re not going to \u2018get better,\u2019 you should be able to live the life you want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working as an attendant, Benson quickly learned there was no formula for succeeding at the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was wrapping my head around the idea that if I went to five different people\u2019s houses, the way they locked their door was different, the way they wanted to be touched was different. I had to respect that,\u201d he said. \u201cI approached repairs the same way. They know the sound their chair makes. Even though I\u2019ve fixed thousands of wheelchairs, I\u2019m going to ask their idea first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Benson worries that with the gradual loss of the old guard, and an uptick in clients who lack the livelihood to be at the forefront of an advocacy effort, the movement and organization won\u2019t have the same momentum as it has in the past. Easy Does It has relied on its clients to consistently champion the organization and seek continued support from the city.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_263033\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263033 size-post-image-size\" src=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki-800x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki-800x600.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki-360x270.jpg 360w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki-900x675.jpg 900w, http:\/\/www.berkeleyside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/EDI-Nikki.jpg 1000w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Easy Does It\u2019s executive director Nikki Brown-Booker. The organization has more than 30 staff members. Photo: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other changes have also made it more difficult for the organization to sustain the work it does in Berkeley.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the wheelchair repair shops, many of the machine shops that used to pepper West Berkeley and West Oakland are gone, along with many of the artists and fabricators who used to be available to help Benson perform common repairs, like straightening out a bent footrest, he said.<\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s In-Home Supportive Services program, which funds attendant care, is again facing potential budget cuts, after weathering slashes under both Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. And \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of fear in the community\u201d about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, said executive director Brown-Booker, who uses Easy Does It\u2019s attendant services herself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPretty much everyone we serve has a preexisting condition,\u201d she said. Fewer and fewer providers cover wheelchairs anyway, she said, and a number of Easy Does It\u2019s clients do not have insurance at all.<\/p>\n<p>That is a particular issue for homeless clients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re out on the street using their chairs 24\/7, and their equipment breaks down and they don\u2019t have insurance,\u201d Brown-Booker said.<\/p>\n<p>The reliable support from the city has been crucial, she said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, Berkeley voters overwhelmingly supported Measure V1, which re-approved, in part, the 1998 improvements tax that funds Easy Does It. The revenue has allowed Easy Does It a $1.2 million annual budget. Most of the organization\u2019s more than 30 staff members have traditionally been paid a nominal wage plus the clients\u2019 copays. But when Berkeley\u2019s new minimum wage policy eliminated the exemption for on-call workers, Easy Does It confronted some financial trouble. In May, the city increased its support for the organization, providing a one-time chunk of funds from the improvement tax reserve, and direction to Easy Does It to come up with a sustainable plan for the future. Brown-Booker said her vision is to develop a network of private donors.<\/p>\n<p>Despite new and persistent challenges for those living with disabilities and those working to serve them, Berkeley is still \u201cthe place\u201d to be disabled, said Brown-Booker. \u201cThere\u2019s a real community here that people seek out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Those who can are often willing to pay a premium to live here, especially for access to the unusual on-call emergency services provided by Easy Does It, she said.<\/p>\n<p>In hopes of preventing others from slipping through the cracks, Benson often approaches people on the street who seem like they could use the services, like he did with Royer. He has built up quite a roster of regulars over the years. But he knows from experience that the landscape and need will continue to shift.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note from Mike Zint:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ben, a member of The Poor Tour, is very passionate about his wheelchair. Stability is helping him follow that passion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Benson, called \u201cCripple A\u201d by his clients, repairs a wheelchair in his Emeryville shop. Photo: Natalie Orenstein June 28, 2017 (berkeleyside.com) On a recent morning, Benjamin Royer was doing donuts in his electric wheelchair. He spun round and round and round in the empty Emeryville parking lot outside the&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/06\/30\/wheelchair-repair-program-lifeline-disabled-particularly-streets-natalie-orenstein\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Wheelchair repair program a lifeline for the disabled \u2014 particularly on the streets&quot; by Natalie Orenstein -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/06\/30\/wheelchair-repair-program-lifeline-disabled-particularly-streets-natalie-orenstein\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Wheelchair repair program a lifeline for the disabled \u2014 particularly on the streets&quot; by Natalie Orenstein -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Benson, called \u201cCripple A\u201d by his clients, repairs a wheelchair in his Emeryville shop. Photo: Natalie Orenstein June 28, 2017 (berkeleyside.com) On a recent morning, Benjamin Royer was doing donuts in his electric wheelchair. He spun round and round and round in the empty Emeryville parking lot outside the... 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Photo: Natalie Orenstein June 28, 2017 (berkeleyside.com) On a recent morning, Benjamin Royer was doing donuts in his electric wheelchair. He spun round and round and round in the empty Emeryville parking lot outside the... 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