When Clinton Clarke was a child, he watched his mother, a Veterans Administration (VA) spinal cord nurse, assist people with disabilities. After graduating from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and moving to Dallas, Clarke followed in his mom’s footsteps with the For Living Independence (FLI) charity.
“It wasn’t necessarily what I thought I would do when I graduated with my engineering degree, but I started in it, and I’ve been helping people ever since,” said Clarke, a rehabilitation engineer and founder of FLI. “I played ice hockey against disabled vets as a volunteer, and I’ve been around the profession for a while. I eventually started working in it.”
Established in 2016, FLI applies technology to the daily life of a person with disabilities to help them overcome and live more independently.
“We all use remote controls and different devices in our daily life, and they are convenience items in some ways, but to people with disabilities opening a door, turning on a light, or getting out of a bed is a much bigger issue,” Clarke told Dallas Express. “We apply technology so that they can do these daily activities alone.”
Over the years, Clarke has noticed an increase in demand for smart home technologies by his clients.
“It used to be very specialized, or it would cost $10,000 to get a box that you could talk to and control your house, but now you can use things like Amazon Echo or Google Home for a 10th of what the costs were,” he said.
Other services are more serious, like helping a wheelchair-dependent customer get out of bed.
“Transferring is always an issue, so that’s a very popular request,” Clarke said in an interview. “For that, we mount rails to the ceiling and then add a motor that drives along that rail and it picks them up. Depending on their level of injury, they can do their hygiene routine independently and possibly toileting if they need to.”
Some 30% of FLI clients are military veterans.
“One of our more interesting clients is a gentleman named Mike,” Clarke said. “He opens his own door, adjusts his own thermostat, and he’s an elderly gentleman with cerebral palsy. I’m so proud of all the things we’ve done with him. I’ve worked with him for a long time.”
On average, FLI receives five to 12 requests a week through an application posted on their website, and the completion rate is about 75%.
“A lot of the applications are asking for small things, so we’re able to help quickly, for example, with a specific grab bar that attaches to their bed to help them get up,” Clarke said. “We even help with a mild disability when somebody has had a stroke.”
Clarke also fabricates or modifies existing equipment.
“The biggest challenge is just spreading the word, and the biggest reward is when we complete something successfully,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s really sad, but it’s also very rewarding at the same time.”
For more information on how to get involved or request assistance, visit their website at https://www.flicharity.org/.