Wheels of Kindness
Lakeside Ambucs — inspiring mobility and independence
By Whitney Alswede
You could say Ariyan Braddy is a celebrity at her Garland ISD elementary school. The 10-year-old’s genuine warmth and contagious spirit touch the lives of everyone she meets, her mother, Nicole Braddy, said. “She just lights up the room. She’s got such a big personality—she’s always smiling, always laughing, always singing.”
“The first time you meet her, she’s going to just catch you in your heart,” added her father, Bryan. “She’s going to sing to you, no matter who you are, and she’ll come up with something.”
Her enthusiasm is all the more remarkable considering she was diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy at birth. The condition, the most common form of cerebral palsy, affects posture, muscle tightness and mobility. Ariyan has relied on a wheelchair since she was 3.
By age 8, however, her chair was literally falling apart. “It was kind of rocking back and forth, wobbling a bit, just because it was so worn down,” Nicole said. “It was so bad that we weren’t even using it anymore—the school had found an extra one.”
The Braddys began the long process of custom-fitting a replacement, working with Dallas Scottish Rite for Children and National Seating & Mobility to mold Ariyan’s seat, add extra support for her core and back, and install brake levers at her level. But just as the process was nearly complete, Medicaid cut coverage, leaving the family with more than $3,000 to pay out of pocket.
That’s when a friend from a networking group shared their story with Lakeside Ambucs, a local chapter of a national nonprofit dedicated to providing mobility and independence for children and veterans.
Mission in Motion
Lakeside Ambucs (pronounced “am-bucks”) is among 157 Ambucs chapters in 36 states. Thanks to membership fees, donations and fundraisers, its 5,000 members provide nearly 3,500 adaptive tricycles annually, each costing between $2,000 and $3,000, through its Amtryke Tricycle Program.
The Lakeside chapter, led by President Julian Olalde, serves families in Wylie, Rowlett, Sachse and surrounding communities. In 2024, the group gifted 31 Amtrykes, and Olalde said they are on track to surpass that number in 2025.
When Olalde heard about Ariyan, he immediately took her case to the board. “I know we do Amtrykes at Ambucs, but let me bring it up to the board and see if we can do a wheelchair for her,” Olalde said. “They said, ‘yes, let’s do it.’”
Lakeside Ambucs partners with area therapists and children’s hospitals, including Children’s Medical Center and Scottish Rite, to identify children and veterans who need mobility assistance. Once a recipient is chosen, it can take up to a year because each Tryke is custom-modified: pedals can be placed high for arm strength, low for leg use, and seating is adjusted for stability.
“There are some kids who are pretty strong, so they don’t need any type of adjustment to the seat,” Olalde said. “For others, we try to put things to get them locked into the seat so they don’t move. We try to accommodate the body parts they use the most.”
Parents can even guide the Tryke from behind with a handle. “This year, we started adding license plates with their names on them,” Olalde added.
More Than Trykes
For Olalde, Ambucs is about more than adaptive bikes. He has expanded the group’s mission by raising awareness on social media, partnering with local schools, collaborating with other nonprofits, growing membership, and even offering scholarships to students pursuing careers in therapy and medicine. He also wants to increase support for veterans by giving away Trykes, building wheelchair ramps and more.
“We’re trying to find more veterans to help out every year,” he said. “There’s a lot of elderly who need help bringing their houses up to par, building ramps, even just painting or fixing boards here and there. I have no business handling a hammer or any tools, so we need to get more people so we can just reach a bigger audience.”
His passion stems from his own childhood. “Growing up, my mom and dad financially struggled,” Julian said. “My dad was a waiter, and my mom was a seamstress. I remember going to food pantries…. One of our best Christmases was when an organization bought us all these G.I. Joes—that was probably one of my fondest memories of somebody helping me.”
That memory drives him to make sure children in need today feel the same joy. “I want kids to have that same feeling,” he said. “I’m hoping that by us doing this it sparks something in them, so they want to be involved in something like this and bring joy to another child and pay it forward.”
Independence and Joy
Now in fourth grade, Ariyan cruises through her school in the candy red wheelchair provided by Ambucs. “Her teachers noticed the difference when she got her chair,” Nicole said. “Her personality, her excitement, even her ability to stay focused and comprehend the particular goals for her special needs. Having a comfortable, suitable chair affects a child’s ability to learn and their ability to be with their families—they’re dependent on that chair. If she doesn’t have a suitable chair, she can’t even join us for dinner.”
The gift of mobility has also tied the Braddys more closely to the Ambucs family. When the holiday season starts, you can bet Ariyan will be right beside her parents, siblings and Lakeside Ambucs members at the chapter’s annual Christmas celebration, giving back in the same spirit that once helped them.
“Our children are just as involved, and it puts a smile on their faces to be able to help other families,” Nicole said. “We know in order to receive, we should always be willing to give…. [Ambucs’ members] have such a big heart and we’re just really grateful to be able to collaborate with them and be recipients as well.”
For Olalde, that kind of impact makes every effort worthwhile.
“Just to see the joy on people’s faces when we’re giving them a Tryke or we’re giving them Christmas presents, it’s well worth it… you start seeing life through their eyes, and you see the joy. That’s the most satisfying thing—to see a child smile, laugh, and see the parents smile, laugh and cry at the same time because they’re so used to seeing the kids stationary, but then they see them get on the bike.”
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