Mother's Mission: Provide help, hope for those in similar need

"I really feel I'm finally going to make a difference. I'm going to be able to help people," says Denise Jungbert The Boynton Beach resident is on a mission and she has grand plans. She wants to provide wheelchairs for children in Palm Beach County with cerebral palsy who can't afford them or do not qualify for public money. She knows from where she speaks. Her 14-year-old daughter, Ashlee, has the disease.

Ashlee was diagnosed when she was about 9 months old. At the time, Denise and her husband did not have medical insurance and found that a new policy would not cover a pre-existing condition. The cost for Ashlee's medical care was so high that Jungbert quit her job and got a divorce so she would qualify for Medicaid. "Parents need readily accessible and affordable resources without having to give up their livelihoods and homes. It's not fair.

I thought 'let's try to help others in this situation so they can live a halfway normal life because once you have a handicapped your life isn't said Jungbert. So she started the nonprofit group, Wheels for Kids. She hopes the group can give away three to five wheelchairs a year. The wheelchairs can cost $2,500 to $24,000, she said. "These are all custom-made chairs.

They have to be. My daughter needs a headrest on hers, more seatbelts and a footrest. Others need other things, depending on their ability to sit," she said. "We were told by the doctors that Ashlee would go from a crib, to a bed, to a nursing home and that would be her life. We refused to accept this and vigorously championed her therapies.