Hi and thanks for taking a moment to read my campaign story! It feels very vulnerable to put my whole story out there for the world to see, and then ask that you might consider helping my fund the purchase of an Alinker, but this yellow gem could let me say YES again (more on that later).
First an introduction:
My name is Christine LeRoux. I live in a little town in the Midwest called Somerset, WI with my beautiful family. My husband is Dave, and we have three children (Jake-17, Joey-15 and Izzy-9). We have two mini Goldendoodles (Indy-11 and Odie-2). Indy is my heart-dog. (I just needed to throw that in there!) I love coffee ☕️, dogs , music , singing (yes that includes karaoke but also worship band...balance, right?) movies , meditation ♀️ and spending time with family & friends.
None of these include moving my body sadly.
Hence the reason I am here...so, here’s the story behind the struggle. Now for the juicy details, right?! Just kidding. My story is probably pretty “boring” compared to others, but it’s all mine! Now that you’re here, and you’ve read this far why not keep reading?
I hope you will keep reading.
Maybe you read the title and wondered what I meant by “saying Yes again”. Well, it seems like my story lately has been a whole lot of learning how to say “no”.
You see, when you have any kind of chronic condition, your life becomes a balancing act of what your body will allow you to do and what your heart needs/wants you to do. ☯️
I’ve always been someone who never stopped moving, who said yes to invitations to do fun things with friends & family, who had 3 different jobs at once, and who managed to balance all of it with being a wife and then becoming a mother. ♀️♀️
However.....I suffered a neck & back injury from a car accident when I was 19, but I stayed busy and active through that pain and many years of chiropractic, massage and courses of physical therapy. For the past 16 years I’ve struggled with chronic degenerative disc disease, a major disc herniation requiring surgery and some other spine conditions named after some German dudes. Nine years ago, after the birth of our daughter, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune thyroid condition called Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. A few years after that, everything started to go wonky (night sweats, pain, headaches/migraines, food intolerance, etc). After seeing several specialists, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. In 2016, I started struggling with Arthritis in my hands which has recently progressed to the small bones of my feet and is also worsening the degenerative disc disease in my mid and low back.
Uff Da. That was a lot, huh? Like I said, it feels really awkward and uncomfortable to put it all out there at once, but there it is. ♀️
Now for the “saying YES” part...my favorite part of this whole campaign! I’ve been reading other campaigns, the Alinker IG posts and seeing Selma Blair champion this movement (literally!) to getting more of these amazing bikes into the hands of everyday people who want to say YES just like me. It’s gotten me really excited about the YES-es this bike would allow me to say!
YES to chaperoning those field trips to the zoo!
YES to spending a day shopping at the Mall of America without worry of pain & fatigue!
YES to traveling without fear of missing a connecting flight because I can’t run (or even walk) that far!
YES to walking the dogs!
YES to family bike rides!
YES to staying active and not atrophied!
YES to preserving energy doing activities, so I don’t have to say no to everything else in the days following!
YES to more living!!!
As hard as it was to write this and start my own campaign (for fear of seeming selfish), it is even harder to ask for help. But here it goes...
I hope you will please consider helping to fund my campaign to purchase an Alinker bike!
If you are not able to contribute financially, please consider sharing my campaign on your social media platforms.
May your generosity be returned back to you ten-fold.
Thank you!
The campaigns are about sharing. Most people have no idea what life is like when you live with MS or what happens after you have a stroke. Isolation is often a bigger problem than the symptoms of the disease itself. With the campaigns we can share and educate people, because it can happen to all of us. When we create a movement where people simply show up for each other, it might get a bit ‘safer’ and less ‘scary’ to engage with each other. Some people share their experiences on their campaign, others share their funds to support the campaigns. It is not about asking for money, it is creating an opportunity for people to learn and show up with #generosity. Being generous resonates with who we are as humans. We understand generosity deeply and when you practice it, you feel so much better
PLEASE NOTE
- The campaigns are in Canadian $ (back end requirement on our side), the $2800 CAD includes the Alinker, shipping, process and campaign fees and our support.
- The campaigns are all or nothing, no credit cards are charged unless the campaign reaches its goal.
- As soon as the campaign reaches its goal, we ship an Alinker.
- Campaigners do not handle money. On disability or welfare, you cannot handle money without being penalized, but you can receive an Alinker !
- When the campaign raises more than the goal, the campaigner can chose another campaign where we then make the donation to, paying it forward, or get the balanced paid out, the choice is the campaigner's.
- If you want to start a campaign and are outside Canada or the USA, write an email to molly@thealinker.com. We can get a shipping quote to where you live, and include that in the campaign goal.
Together we build a movement of kindness and generosity, because we all need it
Why do we facilitate crowdfunding on our site?
We believe that the Alinkers should be available for everybody, regardless of income and people who start a crowdfunding campaign here, will have access to a life changing Alinker. Did you see how happy Selma Blair is using her Alinker? Her anxiety dropped from level 10 to 2 after she got back on her new Alinker. She is so happy and so on with this new invention, that she wants to create a fund to get people access to Alinkers. These crowdfunding campaigns are the first step to make Alinkers available for everybody. Selma and BE are now putting their energy together to build a generous community around all the campaigners! The campaigners are people who allow others to show up generously, give them love!
Why an Alinker?
Generally, medical devices are a technical solution for a body with a
problem.
The Alinker is designed for who we are, a whole human
being, who wants to live an active and engaged life. We are a human,
we have a body. Whether we miss a leg of have MS, it does not change
us as a person.
Yet the world we live in, treats us as a body with a problem, which creates a social divide between people based on their body, based on what we have, not on who we are. Isolation and loneliness are more devastating than the disease itself. So we need to show up for each other, acknowledge each other and be present to who we are.
These campaigns are here to bridge the gap between a high quality custom Alinker, and the people who live at the receiving end of a 'sickcare' system that drives people into poverty.
So, show up, be radically generous, it is something we humans really understand.
When you read each story in each campaign, pause and imagine who
that person is, and why they started the campaign, reach out to them,
let them know they are surrounded and seen, heard and not alone. When
we do that, we feel better and create a safer community where we know
we can show up for each other. It connects us with our essence, we are
radically generous creatures, we just got a little lost in systems
that are not designed for our wellness.
Who is the Alinker for?
The Alinker is for people who want to stay active, regardless of mobility challenges.
To operate and use the Alinker you must have the ability to:
- walk to some degree
- flex and extend your legs
- bear weight on one leg briefly while getting on and off the Alinker
- be consciously aware of your surroundings
- be aware of your ability and limitations
What is the Alinker?
The Alinker is an exceptionally cool, three-wheeled walking bike
for humans with mobility constraints. It’s not a medical device,
it’s a lifestyle tool, designed to enable users to lead active and
socially engaged lives — at eye level.
On the Alinker, users sit upright -- at eye level with standing
companions. Weight is supported by the seat with no stress on the
lower body, while handle bars provide additional support. Feet remain
on the ground, keeping users stable and safe.
