The Mobility Worldwide Story
Since 1994, we have carried out our mission to reflect God’s love by distributing mobility aids to individuals in underserved communities who are unable to walk. Learn more about our story below.
- Larry Hills, a missionary in Zaire (currently the Democratic Republic of Congo), tells Reverend Mel West of the need for three-wheeled, hand-cranked wheelchairs for victims of polio and landmines.
- Earl Miner, product designer, mission partner, and long-time friend of Mel West, starts on the first Mobility Cart prototype
- Four prototype carts are sent to Larry Hills with these instructions: “Put these in the worst place you can find and see if they pass the test.”
- Prototypes pass the testing phase and earn the name Personal Energy Transportation (PET)
- Shipments begin to Zaire and later moved to Zambia
- Rodney Miner starts to build steel frames and ship PETs from Darby, Montana, to the Democratic Republic of Congo for final assembly
- Bishop Machado of Mozambique sees the PET for the first time and requests a project there
- Operations run primarily out of Rev. Mel West’s garage and one room at Community United Methodist Church in Columbia, MO
- Tom Algiere, a shop teacher from Columbia, travels to Mozambique to establish two PET production shops
- Rev. Mel West establishes a production shipping and receiving facility in Columbia
- Rev. Larry Hill creates a production shop in Penny Farms, FL, focused on mobility needs in Haiti
- Jake and Gwen Royall establishes a production shop in Luling, TX
- Over 1,000 PETs produced and shipped from across the US
- PET International is incorporated
- New shops start in Murfreesboro, TN; Tampa, FL; Southwest MO; East Jewett, NY; Spokane, WA, Moundridge, KS; San Antonio, TX; Hawarden, IA
- Pull PET developed for those without upper body power or coordination
- New shops start in Waterboro, ME; Jacksonville, FL; Austin, TX; Holland, MI; Rio Grande Valley, TX; East MI; Memphis, TN
- Mini-Mart kits developed as a way for some PET recipients near populated areas to sell items and earn a living
- New shops start in Leighton, IA; Twin Cities, MN; DeMotte, IN; Northern Utah; Stow, OH
- New shop opens in Saline, MI
- PET celebrates 20th anniversary
- New shop opens in Carlisle, PA
- The 50,000th PET Cart is delivered
- Pet International becomes Mobility Worldwide, and the 60,000th Mobility Cart is delivered
- Gold Status earned from Guidestar in recognition of financial transparency, and the 65,000th Mobility Cart is delivered
- Mobility Worldwide signs an agreement to establish a manufacturing affiliate in Bo, Sierra Leone, that employs people with disabilities
- Mobility Worldwide celebrates 25th anniversary
- Mobility Cart 80,000 produced with parts from each manufacturing affiliate in the US
2019
- Great strides made to establish a presence in Liberia
- Manufacturing site planned for Gbanga, Liberia, which will employ people who use wheelchairs
- In 2023 the 100,000 Mobility Cart Was Donated Globally in El Salvador
- Mobility Worldwide celebrates 30 years of service
