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Santa Barbara, CA, October 8, 2024 –Hillside announces the receipt of a $16,000 grant from the Adams Legacy Foundation to purchase two beach wheelchairs for its non-ambulatory residents living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The beach wheelchairs are fitted with balloon tires which can traverse sand.
On Wednesday, October 2nd, the first two residents of Hillside were able to take the new wheelchairs out for their inaugural ride. Emily and Pilar have lived at Hillside, which is just over a mile from Arroyo Burro Beach, most of their lives. However, like so many non-ambulatory individuals in our community, they have never had an opportunity to actually go onto the beach. The closest they have come is looking at the ocean from their wheelchair on the parking lot sidewalk.