I was very happy when I discovered MakeGood, I have built my brand upon neurodivergent sensory tools and have done a lot of volunteer work in the community, most esp with children. I started printing my first build after being approved and am awaiting my PETG shipment to arrive so I can finish it. In the meantime I have been posting and sharing information on MakeGood and the TMTs to raise awareness in the community and hoping the outreach helps with funding. I had an event this weekend and printed off a ton of flyers from MakeGood and was handing them out and talking about it with people, excitedly the mayor of that town even stopped to talk with us and find out more.
Discouragingly though, two women who had stopped and inquired about it and looked up the website while standing there, were talking in front of me and stated that they could each request one āto get free strollers and just resell themā to get what they wanted. I understand this may not be the norm attitude but it was unsettling and I politely explained that wasnāt the purpose and to reconsider. However, they countered with how no proof is needed to request one so anybody can do it. Despite this encounter, I have continued sharing, spoke with churches, doctors offices, etc. and handed out the TMT flyers wherever I have been allowed to. I seen today a new local request, I am not wanting to claim it due to this and itās making me feel guilty.
I understand no doctors notes or vetting of families is done but I do wish some sort of confirmation of need was established in the requests.
This is an @MakeGood_Noam question, @NWCC are you in the loop with this part?
As far as I understand the families are vetted. Iāll admit Iād be beside myself if a family received a TMT I built only to turn around and resell it.
Thank you for understanding. I am not trying to cause complications or upset anybody. I plan to continue doing my part as mush as I can and for as long as I can, it was just a very discouraging encounter and like I said I feel guilty for waiting before claiming the one literally in my backyard.
Thatās just disappointing in those individuals. I tend to have zero filter and would have probably called them out and shamed them on the spot. But that wouldnāt look good upon the whole project.
There are bad actors. Itās unavoidable, but donāt let this discourage you.
I have set up alerts on Facebook marketplace for a few variations of 3D printed wheelchair and TMTāwe should all do the same. This way if anyone tries to sell one of these, they can be reported.
Is very understandable and my concern as well while making my community aware of the TMTs. Hasnāt stalled me on claiming builds yet but thank you for bringing it up.
I too have been worried about this happening. My current family seems to be uninterested in communicating with me. They give me one word answers. I know we are doing a good thing, but there should be some kind of accountability on their part. We are spending our time and money doing this out of the goodness of our hearts. We should not be taken advantage of. Just my opinion. Iām down for some vetting.
Iām going to have to offer you praise for not āflipping outā on them, TBH, because Iām positive that I would have. Itās unfortunate that in todayās world that there are so many people who feel like they can just use others for their own gain, regardless of who is actually hurt in the process. Too many situations like this can easily dissuade others from becoming, or continue to be Makers.
This is where society makes things difficult. As with all things we canāt let the few ruin it for the many.
We could ask for doctors notes, etc but whats stopping them from forging them? We canāt call up a doctors office and ask for medical information on someone. So kinda back to square one there. Sure it raises the barrier slightly. But not fool proof.
I take the personal stance at a high level iād rather 9 get it that donāt need to make SURE the 1 who really does has no barriers from getting it. Now that doesnāt work when its others doing the making. I canāt morally tell people just make them for whoever asks even if its a bad vibe situation because one request might be legit.
If you get a bad vibe from a request you can message us in the app. You can also un-claim a request. It puts you in a basic time out, admin takes a look at your message about it, the situation. We really just want to prevent chronic un-claiming.
Iām fully open to suggestions on how we can work to prevent abuse.
That situation does sound aggravating, but personally for me, I donāt feel like iām in a position to judge. I just make the chairs and give them away, and try not to worry about the other person - Iām sure God can deal with them better than I could anyway.
Hopefully someday weāll have so many free TMTās in circulation that nobody bites on the Marketplace listings.
While HIPPA does prevent you from calling a doctors office for medical information, you are allowed to ask broad questions, like ādoes have mobility issuesā. An example for this is a handicap parking permit. The application which the doctor fills out is very broad in scope, and is still HIPPA compliant. The same goes with a service dog and the ADA. No establishment is allowed to ask why someone needs the dog, but can ask if the dog has specific tasks.
Iām sure that if you asked a local doctor or tag office to give you a blank handicap parking permit to use as a template for the TMT.
Thank you Scott and everybody else for replying. I understand the restrictions and am unsure of any suggestions for handling it. I fully intend to just keep printing and moving forward, we are excited to be half way through printing our first one and my kids are already asking what colors can we do next.
Thats what i alluded too earlier. Provide a form. Then what is stopping the nefarious person from just filling it out themselves? The only way that works is for admin to verify each with a call to the provider assuming they will even discuss it with us.
It is funny, This site was set up to provide anonymity, but the last thing most of us want is to be anonymousā¦lolā¦ I have had text strings with 4 of my last 5 builds. All have on their own provided pics of their little ones to show me who I was building this for. Proud Mommaās
If after all they go through, if in the end after using the TMT, they find it doesnāt work for them, Iād hope they would pass it on to someone who it would work for (they have all told me about groups they are in for help and support)
The reality is that when a family truly needs something for their child, they will provide anything you ask for. As a mother and grandmother with autistic twin grandsons, any help (especially free), is appreciated so much that I, and most legit people, would send you videos, pictures, letters, signed documents, social media handles, anything that would get us what we need. Iām coming from a different angle here, as well as a builder. I tend to believe in the goodness of people, and have such a hard time believing that people would do this. However, theyāre out there just waiting to jump on an opportunity that does not belong to them.
I feel a doctors note, while some may forge, would prevent/detour āsomeā of the nefarious characters to at least reduce TMTs going to those not in need of them. Just my opinionā¦
