Spreading Love One Wheelchair at a Time with Shatone Martin from Lifting Spirits with Helping Hands

January 28, 2026·10 min·1 clip

Shatone Martin recounts how a rare lung virus hospitalized her and triggered a muscle disease that put her in a wheelchair for two years.

The episode opens with host Erica welcoming Shatone Martin to the SPIRIT 105.3 call-in segment. Martin begins by recounting her hospitalization in 2019 with parainfluenza 3, a rare lung virus, which triggered mitochondrial myopathy—a rare progressive muscle disease. Doctors told her there was no cure and she would not recover. She spent two years using a wheelchair, then a walker, then a cane, before regaining the ability to walk. During her illness, friends and family helped cover mobility equipment that insurance would not pay for, revealing a clear community need. She founded Lifting Spirits with Helping Hands in 2020 and received 501c3 status that year. While building the nonprofit, she simultaneously earned an associate's degree in business management, then a bachelor's degree, and is currently pursuing a master's in social work. She continues to fund the nonprofit personally while on disability. The nonprofit began with a few items on her porch, expanded to a 10x10 shed, and now maintains a 12x30 storage unit and a 10x10 storage unit. She explains that she refurbishes donated medical equipment by watching YouTube repair tutorials and distributes it for free. She describes the emotional experience on both sides: donors often hold onto equipment for years because it belonged to a deceased family member, and donating it becomes an act of honor. Recipients—many of whom have fought insurance companies for years—feel their independence restored and cry with joy. Erica asks for a favorite story. Martin shares the account of a homebound tribal member who searched for a wheelchair for two years, drove from North Seattle to pick it up, and was able to pass near her tribal land on the way. A year later the same woman received an electric scooter, allowing her to join her tribe's canoeing days and return to nature. Martin then describes the Hoyer lift coincidence: someone called needing a Hoyer lift, she committed to finding one without having it in stock, and the next day a donor called to offer exactly that item after hearing a pastor mention the nonprofit in a church service. This kind of same-day or next-day matching happens regularly, she says. Martin describes integrating her faith naturally into delivery conversations, often praying with recipients or having volunteers ask how the equipment arrived so quickly. She cites Lauren Daigle's 'Let It Be a Hallelujah' as the song from SPIRIT 105.3 that most resonates with her. The episode closes with Erica expressing gratitude and inviting Martin to return with future stories.

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