Activist Lotte Diomede explains the virtues of Mobi-Chairs

Activist Lotte Diomede explains the virtues of Mobi-Chairs

Activist Lotte Diomede, mother of a disabled son and founder and president of the SMILE Mass Foundation. One goal of her foundation is to donate Mobi-Chairs to all the beaches on Cape Cod. A second group of 20 will be presented this month.

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Lotte Diomede. I am the mother of a wheelchair bound child as well as the president of SMILE Mass. The mission of SMILE Mass is to provide happy, healthy memories to families living with children or adults with disabilities. Our first project is to place 100 Mobi-Chair floating beach wheelchairs to public beaches on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In June of 2012 we placedthe first 20 chairs and on June 28, 2013,we will be placing the next 20 chairs.

Photo by Boyd Loving

As you can imagine, I am keenly aware of issues regarding beaches/pools and disabled persons. I am having trouble understanding why anyone would construct a ramp that leads into the deep end of a lake.Most disabled persons will need assistance getting from their chair into the water and if the ramp leads into the deep end, the person assist ing will not be able to stand—creating a dangerous situation for boththe disabled person and their assistant.*

SMILE Mass has done extensive research on beach wheelchairs, and we find the Mobi-Chair to be top-of-the-line. It goes seamlessly from the parking lot, over the sand and into the water where it floats. It needs no special ramp at a beach as you would push it into the water the same way an ambulatory person would walk into the water.

In 2012, SMIL E Mass worked with 12 different towns and their beach directors. The towns that received Mobi-Chairs are listed on our website at www.smilemass.org/beach-project.html. I’ m sure a call to any one of them would convince you of the safety and benefits of us ing the Mobi-Chair.

If you have further questions, I can be reached at 617-967-7755.

Thank you,
Lotte Diomede
Co-founder & president , SMILE Mass
Lotte@smilemass.org
www.smilemass.org

*Note from ThePreserve Graydon Coalition : Lotte says ther
e must always be an assistant. What ’s called“the deep end”
or“the 12-foot section ”is not 12 feet deep in all places, but may drop steeply to
that depth. In addition, as in most lakes, visibility at Graydon Pond does not usually
penetrate to the deepest areas of the water

https://www.preservegraydon.org/files/5/Lotte_Diomede_letter_SMILE_Mass_Graydon_ramp,_Mobi-Chair.pdf