After Multiple Sclerosis eventually stripped my ability to walk and safely stand, I found myself living in a "whole new world" fraught with difficulties that I could never have imagined. We live in a world that has been designed and built by able bodied people for other able bodied people over centuries. Now that relying on a wheelchair has become my sole source of "mobility," I am finding out just how hostile our world truly is toward people with physical mobility deficits. We all live in a three dimensional world in which we all utilize, interact with, and depend upon every day of our lives. Not only do we need to move forward, backward, left, and/or right countless times each day, but we also need to stand up and reach for needed items at various heights within our various environments. Being stranded in a wheelchair has truly opened my eyes to the reality that mobility impaired individuals face on a daily basis. A wheelchair is great for assistance in moving from room to room in a person's environment, but it's not nearly enough. The vast majority of houses have been designed and built with the assumption that every occupant will be able to stand up to reach into cupboards, stand at the stove top, stand at the kitchen sink etc... This makes living in a wheelchair an absolutely frustrating nightmare. The most practical solution to this "problem" is readily available yet not widely known about utilized. Most major wheelchair manufacturers have a "standing or elevating seat" option that they can integrate into many of their products. The problem is that private insurers and Medicare/MedicAid refuse to cover these items. Their reasoning for these "exclusions" is based on a litany of unfounded opinions that standing upright or increasing your wheelchair seat height is nothing more than a convenience. All of these policy makers have clearly never experienced life from a wheelchair user's point of view. I am founding Mobility Advocates, as a nonprofit organization, with the purpose of assisting permanently wheelchair bound people with getting their private health insurance and Medicare/Medicaid to cover these necessary items. We will do this through advocacy, education, and appeals guidance and assistance. When all avenues of insurance based funding have been exhausted and Mobility Advocates has funds available, we will work with manufacturers and suppliers to procure the needed equipment for an individual.