Steering into independence

For the first time in his life, 25-year-old Jeff Towner is getting around town without help from his grandmother.

The legally blind North Idaho College student now has a set of wheels: Three wheels to be exact.

Towner and 39-year-old Mikel Williams each received recumbent bicycles this month, courtesy of the Idaho Commission for the Blind. The commission also purchased a recumbent bicycle for Pat Hoffer, manager of Cafe Cistin in Post Falls.

Within moments of sitting on his bike for the first time, Towner was zipping through the commission’s parking lot off Ironwood Drive.

“He’s adjusted quickly,” his grandmother, Jesslyn Towner, said as Towner came down a hill and hit the brakes.

“He’s going to flip that,” Gary Dagastine of NorthWest Recumbent Cycles said as the rear tire on Towner’s three-wheeled bike popped up off the ground. Dagastine gave him a quick lesson on applying pressure to the brakes evenly.

“I feel safe,” Towner assured onlookers as he pedaled away again – just as fast.

“I’m glad he carries a cell phone,” his grandma said.

For Towner and Williams, the electric- and pedal-powered bikes are bringing the men greater independence and convenience.

“He’s 25 years old and he hasn’t ever been able to take off and drive by himself,” Jesslyn Towner said.

Williams, who works at Ivy Court Assisted Living, has tried public transportation but found the buses weren’t always on time. If the buses were late, so was he.

Walking from home to work takes more than an hour one way.

Neither Towner, who has only 50 percent sight in his left eye, nor Williams, who has little to no peripheral vision, is able to drive vehicles.

Hoffer will use the bicycle to get to and from his job as a barista at the coffee shop. He also is legally blind.

“The whole point is to provide independence to these guys who can’t drive,” said Sherry Oveson, a rehabilitation counselor with the commission who helped get recumbent bikes for both men.

Both have received help from Oveson, whose office provides training and vocational rehabilitation for the visually impaired. In Idaho’s five northern counties there are more than 7,200 people who are blind or visually impaired and more than 4,600 of them live in Kootenai County.

“Our goal is to help people to have a standard of living above disability and Social Security,” Oveson said.

With Oveson’s help, Williams received training in how to use a cane and specialized bioptics that help him see with magnification.

Towner is enrolled in NIC’s small engine repair program.

“If Jeff goes to work as a mechanic, he’ll make great money,” Oveson said.

That’s her goal: Help people who want to work find and keep jobs.

The money spent on vocational rehabilitation pays off, a return of about $11 in taxes for every dollar spent, Oveson said.

The $2,000 bikes the men received aren’t theirs unless they meet requirements of the program.

For Towner, that means graduating from school and working at least 90 days before his new wheels really are his.

Dagastine of NorthWest Recumbent Cycles was eager to get involved in the project because he had seen how his wife benefitted from using a recumbent bicycle. His wife, Beth, has multiple sclerosis and for a woman who spent years bedridden, the bike has allowed her more freedom than she imagined.

“We help out people who are disabled because it helped me,” she said. “I get in that bike and, just like the kids, you’re independent and you can ride all by yourself.”