Community Who Cares: Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation

Community Who Cares is a series that spotlights the organizations, businesses and people making the area a better place to live and work.

This month, the spotlight lands on a nonprofit tucked along West 9th Avenue that helps Pennsylvanians with disabilities pay for the tools that make daily life possible.

The Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation, better known as PATF, is a statewide nonprofit that helps people with disabilities and older Pennsylvanians get the assistive technology they need. That can mean a tablet that lets a child communicate, a stairlift that lets someone stay in the home they love, hearing aids, an adapted van or a utility tractor for a farmer with a back injury. As a certified nonprofit lender, PATF is the state’s official source for assistive technology loans.. It is one of just 42 such programs in the country.

The core of the work is financing. PATF offers two loan programs. The Mini-Loan covers $100 to $7,000 at 0% interest, with payments starting at $20 a month and a maximum term of four years. It is a fit for purchases like computers, specialized software, portable ramps, smart home devices and seat-lift chairs. Larger purchases such as home modifications, adapted vehicles and eye-gaze systems go through the Low-Interest Loan, which carries a 3.75% rate and is processed through partner banks. Eligible borrowers with limited income may also qualify for a Mini-Grant of up to $1,000 that reduces the loan amount.

PATF also does things a bank typically would not. Applicants do not have to prove a disability, and they do not have to be turned down by other funders first. The person with the disability, a family member or anyone applying on their behalf can start the process, and the borrower chooses the equipment and the vendor. Beyond loans, the team offers information and assistance for people hunting for funding resources and financial education for people who want to build their money skills.

The numbers tell the story well. PATF has granted loans to more than 5,000 people totaling over $51 million, and has helped another 17,000 people through its information and assistance services. When borrowers were surveyed, 99% said they would work with PATF again. For anyone with questions outside office hours, there is also Aida, an AI funding navigator built with the University of Pittsburgh that answers questions about assistive technology funding around the clock.

PATF is located at 1004 West 9th Avenue in King of Prussia. Learn more, apply for a loan or make a donation at patf.us.