With the senior population growing in recent years, mobility issues are popping up due to osteoporosis, cancer and other bone density causes, so wheelchairs and walkers are becoming commonplace.
Bennet Helfgot sees it all around and as owner of Mobility City of Northern Virginia, he’s there to help with his wide selection of products that help people get around. He opened the franchise in 2019 and just celebrated his fifth anniversary.
“There’s a growing need out there,” Helfgot said, and many times it takes a bigger effort than just relying on Medicare. “I help people on a daily basis, the system fails people,” he said. There are plenty of seniors in the Mount Vernon-Springfield area so Helfgot joined the Mount Vernon-Springfield Chamber of Commerce recently to increase the company’s exposure.
Once Helfgot finds the right equipment and fits it to the customer’s needs, he remains committed to that transaction. “I’ll maintain and repair it,” he said. Although his location is closer to Old Town Alexandria, he likes the Mount Vernon-Springfield Chamber of Commerce. “This chamber does a lot,” he said.
Wheelchairs Needed
What Helfgot is seeing is a snapshot of a nationwide situation. According to the Social Security Administration, 12 percent of the total population is aged 65 or older this year, but by 2080, it will be 23 percent. This increase in the senior population is linked to the mobility issue so companies like Mobility City are getting more attention.
https://alexandriava.mobilitycity.com/
Vinny Baratta started Mobility City in Long Island, New York. He was raised in a family with several doctors and found himself fixing the wheelchairs in the family medical practice. His wife Diane got stuck in a summer downpour with a wheelchair patient and made an emergency call to Mobility City and they sent out a technician. "I understand what millions of people go through every day when their mobility equipment breaks down," she said. Now she is CEO of the company.