TJC Gifts Wheelchair-Accessible Van to Family with 11-Year-Old Living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, In Partnership with Mechanics on a Mission, Mobility Words, & Brentwood United Methodist Church
- Annie Eby
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
Marcous, a sweet, faith-filled 11-year-old boy, lives in a multigenerational home in Davidson County. He finds comfort in his faith and joy in reading and playing games. Marcous lives with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare genetic condition that mostly affects boys. Duchenne is a progressive condition with no cure. By ages 10-12, three out of four children with Duchenne lose the ability to walk. By age 20, people with Duchenne usually start experiencing heart and lung complications (source).
Today, Marcous navigates the world in a wheelchair and requires assistance from two adults for nearly all activities of his daily life.
Momera, Marcous’ mother, supports her family financially by working long hours at a hotel in downtown Nashville. When she is home, she is Marcous’ primary caregiver. While she is at work, her aging parents step in to care for him as best they can. But as Marcous grows bigger and his grandparents grow older, this level of care is becoming unsustainable. Momera cannot afford to reduce her work hours, but her family urgently needs additional support at home.
Momera reached out to the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) for help securing Home Health Aide Hours through TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid Program, so that Marcous could receive additional assistance at home to help with his daily needs.
As TJC worked their case, we learned the family did not have a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Each time Marcous needed to leave home, his mom would carry him out the front door, dismantle his wheelchair, load it into the car piece by piece, and reassemble it upon arrival. Just recently, Marcous stopped attending school because the family struggled to safely get him out of the house to meet the accessible bus at the end of their driveway.
Thanks to a partnership with Brentwood United Methodist Church, TJC was able to nominate Marcous’ family to receive a wheelchair-accessible van. The van was located, repaired, and provided by Mechanics on a Mission, and Mobility Works ensured the accessible functions would work for Marcous’ chair. The family was overjoyed by the gift and shared how much Marcous wished he had been able to attend the donation event, but until they received the van, they had no way to get him there.
His mom shared candidly: “The car means so much for my family and for Marcous. Marcous is always asking to go to church, hang out somewhere new, or play games somewhere. His dream came true. I was having a very hard time because I was carrying him on my back to get him down to the car. Now, I can move him easily into the car.”
TJC extends our sincerest thanks to everyone who played a part in giving this young man the opportunity to experience community beyond his front door.
