Somerville Native with Cerebral Palsy Needs Online Votes

Somerivlle native Mary Houghton, 48, who has cerebral palsy, loves to swim, shop, attend festivals like ArtBeat, go to the beach and visit Davis Square.

She's also bound to a wheelchair and doesn't speak, and her ability to get around is dictated by the whims of a specially modified but crumbling 15-year-old minivan that's being held together by duct tape and has a ramp that doesn't always work.

"She loves to be out and about," said her sister, Kathleen Houghton, who, after their parents died, has helped care for Mary. But the minivan is no longer dependable, and a new van would set the family back $45,000 to $50,000—an amount that's "cost prohibitive for most people," Kathleen said.

That's why the family has entered a contest for a new wheelchair accessible van. But they need your online votes to help them win.

The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association, or NMEDA, is giving away at least three wheelchair accessible minivans for National Mobility Awareness Month, in May, and over 800 people from around North American have entered the contest.

Kathleen admitted it's tough to see all the people who need help and "to be competing against people in the same boat we are."

That said, a new van would greatly improve Mary's life, and it would help a native Somerville family care for their sibling.

Mary is one of eight siblings—all of them girls except for one boy, who's now a Somerville firefighter, Kathleen said.

Kathleen, herself, works in special education with the school district, and one of their sisters is a retired Somerville school teacher.

Caring for Mary has made Kathleen realize how amazing her parents were, she said, explaining that many parents in the 1960s who had a cerebral palsy child would not have taken her home. They were "pioneers, in a way," Kathleen said of her parents.

Although Mary can't speak, "She's known everywhere she goes," and "when people meet her, they really do connect with her."

"She votes religiously," said Kathleen, and one of her greatest pleasures is swimming. Normally she's physically restricted, but "in water she can move around beautifully."

Getting her to swimming areas is one of the main reasons they want a new minivan, Kathleen explained.

If you want to help out, you can vote once a day until the contest ends on May 11. You'll need to provide a name and email address—but you all have special email addresses designated for such things, right? (carmen.sandiego@whereintheworldami.com)

If you answer a quick question, your vote counts twice.

You can vote here.