Low-Cost Durable Medical Equipment Project.
Arizona Sonora Border: Projects for Inclusion
ARSOBO is a binational nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status in the United States and a sister NGO in Mexico. Our mission is to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities by providing affordable medical devices designed and built by people who use them, helping remove barriers and create greater opportunities for independence and inclusion.
Founded through a partnership of universities, government agencies, private companies, and community members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, ARSOBO brings together expertise and resources to deliver sustainable solutions that strengthen border communities.
Restoring Independence
Since 2013, ARSOBO has expanded its services to fabricate prosthetic limbs and orthotics through partnerships, grant funding, and community support. Advanced training for ARSOBO’s prosthetic technicians enabled devices to be fabricated locally, reducing delivery time from two months to just 3–4 days.
Since then, ARSOBO has provided more than 839 prosthetic and orthotic devices across the border region and continues to collaborate with the Technical University in Nogales, Sonora to develop innovative 3D-printed upper-limb prosthetics.
Mobility Without Barriers
Since 2009, ARSOBO has built more than 735 all-terrain wheelchairs, helping individuals with disabilities gain greater mobility, independence, and access to their communities. Built by skilled technicians who are themselves wheelchair users, these mobility solutions are designed to meet the unique challenges of the border region.
With equipment purchased from U.S. Northern Command and alterations in wheelchair production, ARSOBO has increased construction from 1 to 3 wheelchairs each week.
The Services Which ARSOBO Provides:
Our Work & Its Benefit
In September of 2009, the first phase opened with a shop to construct both standard and custom-built all-terrain wheelchairs for individuals with disabilities to improve access to their communities. The wheelchair shop employs two skilled wheelchair technicians who are both wheelchair users. The chief technician had been building this wheelchair for more than 25 years. With equipment purchased from U.S. Northern Command and alterations in wheelchair production, ARSOBO has increased construction from 1 to 3 wheelchairs each week.
As a result of partnerships, grant funding, and donations, in 2013 ARSOBO expanded to fabricate prosthetic limbs and orthotics. With grant funding from the Tichi Munoz Fundacion in Obregon, MX, and the Shipley Family Foundation in AZ, ARSOBO’s two prosthetic using technicians received advanced training to fabricate prosthesis at the ARSOBO workshop in Nogales, Sonoran instead of at the Hanger Clinic in Tucson. With that training, the time a person receives a prosthesis decreased from 2 months to 3-4 days. ARSOBO has been working with the Technical University in Nogales, Sonora to create 3D computerized prosthetic upper extremities.
In 2015, faculty at the University of Arizona opened the Hearing Health Clinic. Each month, faculty and Ph.D. candidates from the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Department conduct hearing clinics to evaluate individuals for hearing impairments and distribute appropriate hearing aids.
The benefit of the project has created an avenue for individuals with disabilities to purchase assistive devices at a price they can afford and have access to increased employment opportunities. Due to its continuing efforts for providing low-cost medical devices for people with disabilities, ARSOBO was named the 2012 recipient of the Andy Nichols Award for Social Justice. The award is given by the Arizona-Mexico Commission for persistent service in pursuit of social justice.
Make a donation.
You can donate to ARSOBO with the confidence that your support will directly transform the life of an individual with a disability.
Let’s Work Together
We’re always looking for new opportunities to collaborate to further the mission of inclusion. Please write us and ARSOBO will contact you.