Moving around has always been tough for Cynthia Osborne of Milford. She was born with cerebral palsy. A few years ago she bought a van to get to doctors appointments but the economy hit her as hard, and now she's about to lose her only way of getting around.
"Prices are going up sky high," Cynthia said.
Cynthia and Henry Osborne are barely scraping by these days. They live on a fixed income from Social Security. With that they pay all of their bills, but the mounting pressure of making ends meet has left this married couple of 21 years at a standstill. "People been helping but I need help, I really do," she said.
At home, Cynthia has a caretaker and uses her wheelchair to get around, but when it's time for her doctors appointments, every three months, her van is her mode of transportation.
It’s specially equipped for her needs, without it she says she'd have to take public transportation. "Sometimes the van will come early to pick me early to pick me up to take me to the doctor and sometimes they forget me to pick up to come back home," she said.
Brother Larry Lussier from the Congregation of Holy Cross is working with church members to raise money for the keep the van moving fund. He says, "they’re living paycheck to paycheck."
Now the couple is turning to the public. "If anyone is out there please help me" said Cynthia. She doesn’t want to lose her van because she doesn’t want to lose her freedom, "I need this van for my independence."
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Cynthia says she's been making payments on the van for about a year and still owes about $20,000.
The public can help by sending donations in the form of checks to: St. Gabriel's Church, 26 Broadway, Milford, CT 06460.
Write "Keeping the van moving" in the memo line.
