EZ Mobility shows off

ROANOKE, Va. – After hopping from one rental to the next over the years, EZ Mobility Solutions now has its own home – a 33,000-square-foot-facility that features a 4,000-square-foot interactive showroom complete with lowering cabinets for the kitchen and rotating shoe racks for the bedroom. 

The inspiration for the showroom came from a large, six-month project the company worked on in 2020 for a woman who was paralyzed from the waist down following a car accident, says President David Todd. 

“When she was in rehab in Charlotte, they took her around to other people’s houses and showed her how you can open a door using a dog leash, things like that, and it was really disheartening to her,” he said. “She really wanted a home that was made for her, and it got me to thinking about how people in her situation should have a place where they can go and see what’s out there. It allows them to come in and see how they could live, how they could cook dinner, how they could take a shower – all these everyday things.” 

Todd started EZ Mobility Solutions in 2008 out of a room in his house, after realizing that the work he enjoyed the most in his small contracting business was installing ramps. As the company grew, he moved it into his detached garage, then a 2,500-square-foot rental and then a 12,000-square-foot rental, before deciding to build the new facility, which took three years. 

EZ Mobility Solutions has grown to 36 employees and a geographic footprint that includes Virginia, North Carolina and parts of West Virginia and Maryland. At one point, the company was doing work for 22 different Veterans Affairs locations. 

“We have competitors, but there’s nobody like us in Roanoke – they’re farther afield in Greensboro or Richmond – and I don’t believe anyone has a showroom like ours,” Todd said. 

While Todd acknowledges people can buy most everything online these days – even a stairlift – that doesn’t replace the expertise he and his staff have or the personal connections they create with their customers. 

“I was doing a ramp (early in my career) at a lady’s house, and she had diabetes and was in a wheelchair,” he said. “She came out two or three times (during the install). I kept telling her, ‘Ma'am, you have to stop; you’re going to get hurt,’ and she said, ‘Oh honey, you don’t understand. I haven’t been out of my house on my own in two years. I just want to go out and have the sun hit my face and get my own mail.’ I was hooked then, when I realized the difference it could make.”