Wheelchair for Disabled Prisoner

People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA) is fundraising for a wheelchair on behalf of a transgender woman. She was recalled to prison for breach of parole a few months ago. The stress caused by this has resulted in neurological illness, a stay in the hospital, and stress-induced paralysis from the waist down. She is not receiving adequate physiotherapy for this, a matter PAPA advocates are currently pursuing.

Currently, she is using a prison-owned wheelchair intended only for emergency use. She has been using it for nearly two months. It has almost no padding, and she is getting sores that are at high risk of infection. She has been told that she will have to return the chair when she’s released. She will still need a wheelchair and other accessibility devices after being freed. It will be a long road to being able to walk again.

Our fundraising goal is $1000. This will enable us to buy her a good quality padded wheelchair which will last as long as she needs it to. It will also cover the cost of having it delivered to her. In future, if she no longer needs it, she may return it to PAPA so that we can direct it to the next incarcerated person in need. Any funds raised over this goal will go towards paying for her phone calls (as she is unable to work for prison wages), helping her get physiotherapy, and purchasing any accessibility devices which she may need upon release.

This is a desperate situation, one entirely created by the New Zealand criminal justice system. It falls on us to bail them out and to help the people they are hurting. Give as much as you’re able, or just share widely - everything will help. Not only can we raise the money to give this woman something she needs very much, but every share and every donation will remind her that she is not alone. She is loved, she is supported, and we will not forget about her even though she has been hidden away from us.