The Shoe That Grows on prosthetic limbs
The Shoe That Grows fitted on prosthetic limbs ready for distribution in Kenya
Limb loss in areas impacted by poverty
Around the world in countries impacted by poverty, individuals with limb loss don’t have the financial capability to pay for prosthetic devices. And, even if they did, prosthetic services aren’t widely available in developing countries.
Without a limb or limbs, individuals may find it difficult to get around the community, work, attend school, or enjoy everyday activities like playing outside with friends. That’s where Limb Kind Foundation steps in—a nonprofit based in New York that helps children both domestically and internationally by providing free prosthetics.
“In almost all these countries that we go to,” said Limb Kind founder Robert Schulman, “the children show up with barely any shoes at all and we feel bad that we’re providing prosthetics but no shoes to put on them.”
Founder Robert Schulman with a child who just received a prosthetic limb
How Limb Kind uses The Shoe That Grows
Limb Kind has taken several brands of shoes to their international projects, but found it difficult to predict what sizes the children would need.
The Shoe on a prosthetic limb
Once, while providing prosthetics to families in the Philippines, not a single child that Robert’s team worked with came with shoes—leading the entire group to visit a local shoe store. It was after that trip that Robert started to do some digging on expandable shoes and discovered The Shoe That Grows.
“The Shoe That Grows is the perfect synergistic project for this, as there’s wiggle room if the sizing isn’t exactly correct and they also have time to grow with the shoe,” explained Robert.
Since finding The Shoe, Robert and his team have distributed 36 pairs to children receiving prosthetics in Kenya.
Limb Kind is currently celebrating the opening of the first pediatric prosthetic and orthotic center in New York, where children can receive the care they need. After that, the team plans to expand into other locations so that more children can receive free, annual prosthetic care.
Learn more about Limb Kind and how to support its mission, or learn more about The Shoe That Grows.