A 1997 Ford Club Wagon medical van sits idle and snow-packed in the Village of Oaks driveway of Chris Jacobsmeyer and Kelley Brewington in the Northland.The van was delivered on a flatbed truck in December, a gift from a New Jersey charity that donates vans to families living with ALS. “When we got it, we were in the hospital,” said Brewington. “When we got out of the hospital, we were excited because we’d have a new van!” Unfortunately, the New Jersey charity did not realize the van cannot pass Missouri inspection. A rusted frame, frozen brakes, broken taillights, prevent Brewington from driving her husband in the vehicle designed for a wheelchair. Jacobsmeyer was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2014. He and his wife, Brewington, both thought the new van would give them freedom from their $100 medical cab rides, and lack of spontaneity to experience life on the road. “I would like to get out sometimes,” Jacobsmeyer said through his computer keyboard he controls with his eyes. Instead, their mechanic said it would cost about $5,000 for a new frame, and several more thousand dollars for other repairs. That’s more than the $1,500 New Jersey charity Hark paid for the medical van, along with $1,100 to ship the van from New Jersey to Missouri. “I’m bound and determined to get another one,” said Hark President Donna York, whose father died of ALS in 2009. Hark bought the van on a recommendation from a friend. “They knew the couple, and said, ‘They’re really good people. The van seems really good for what it is.’” Unfortunately it wasn’t. Now, York has started a YouCaring page to give Jacobsmeyer and Brewington another “HopeMobile,” as she calls them. “I feel bad for us, but I feel bad for them as well,” Brewington said, grateful for the donation. She and her husband now hoping another van donation comes through, to help them experience the freedom they thought they had. Click HERE if you would like to help the family.