Alternatives in Motion (AIM), a nonprofit providing donated mobility equipment and repair services to those in need, has appointed four new members to its board: Jeff Kramer, Shelly Loose, Mark Brant, and Tyler Losinski.
These four, who share common interests in disability advocacy or staying active, will join the other eight members of AIM’s board, which governs the nonprofit and sets the policies and procedures for the leadership staff to best serve AIM’s clients.
CEO Coleen Davis said, “I look forward to working with the new board members and their goals of empowering the community to ensure that all individuals with a disability have access to mobility equipment.”
New Faces
Jeff Kramer, a rehabilitation physician at AIM’s long-time ally Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, finally joined the board after years of friend and board member Larry Korolewicz urging him to. While Kramer and Korolewicz “commiserate” together about their wives’ passion for endurance sports, Kramer also enjoys being active and encourages his patients to engage an active life and to “make the most of whatever level they’re at.”
When Shelly Loose and her husband, both quadriplegic, needed equipment their insurance wouldn’t cover, a friend recommended AIM. Now, whenever she meets someone in need through her work as president of Ms. Wheelchair America, a pageant which celebrates women in wheelchairs for their disability advocacy, Loose refers them to AIM. Last year, after winning the Moving People Forward award at the 4th Annual AIM High Endurance Awards for her own advocacy, the board asked her to join. Loose describes herself as a full-time volunteer, often providing peer support and counsel to women at Mary Free Bed.
Mark Brant recently moved to Grand Rapids to become market president of the First Community Bank downtown. Soon after, he met board member George Ranville and learned about his work with AIM. “It sounded like just a wonderful service to the community, so we talked a lot about it,” he said, and soon Ranville asked if he’d like to join the board. Outside of banking, Brant enjoys cycling, golf, swimming, running, and spending time Up North.
Tyler Losinski raised money for AIM when he was the community services coordinator for a student organization as a high school senior. A few years later, once he’d moved to Grand Rapids and joined Disher Design & Development, his wife, a rehab therapist, volunteered at AIM and came home raving. Losinski quickly got involved, coordinating volunteer engineers from Disher to come in twice a month to repair chairs and clear spaces, and now he represents Disher on the board. Losinski enjoys travel and being active outdoors.
Written by AIM intern, Juliana Ludema
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