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<\/p>\n<\/div>The Woodward Dream Cruise may be the most populist major car show in America. Everyone is welcome \u2013 from One Percenters in supercars to Joe Lunchbucket in his antique carbureted geezer.<\/p>\n
So when D-MAN Foundation \u2013 which supports kids and adults with significant disabilities \u2013 was looking for an event where its clients could share the joys of motoring, it found a welcoming home at the Cruise.<\/p>\n
For the fifth year, D-MAN\u2019s \u201cDreams Come True on Woodward\u201d brought dozens of its clients to the Kingsley Inn in Bloomfield Hills where they were treated to games, music \u2013 and most significantly, open-air rides in some of Motor City\u2019s favorite convertibles.<\/p>\n
D-MAN is the brainchild of Ziad Kassab, 32, whose younger brother, Danny, was tragically paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 5. When his brother succumbed to his disability at 23, Kassab dedicated his life to helping similarly disable individuals enjoy a fuller life through music and social events. Thus his organization\u2019s name: Danny\u2019s Miracle Angels Network (D-MAN).<\/p>\n
\u201cDreams Come True\u201d depends on volunteers \u2013 like your Fiat 124 Spider-driving scribe \u2013 to give rides to their clients. My passenger was Randy Newton, 31, a cerebral palsy victim from Mt. Morris. Randy cannot speak and has only limited mobility, but his dedicated, loving parents – Mary and Ralph \u2013 helped him into the Fiat\u2019s passenger seat from his wheel chair.<\/p>\n
We took a quick spin up Woodward \u2013 the topless 124 Spider surrounded by loud V-8s, gorgeous sports cars, and the odd ice cream truck. Randy took it all in, particularly thrilled by the roars from the big block engines. His parents told me he is a huge Kid Rock fan \u2013 and judging by the ear-to-ear grin on his face when we got back to the Kingsley, he\u2019s now a Fiat fanatic as well.<\/p>\n
Other D-MAN participants could not ride along in my two-seater convertible. Charlie Starlight, for example. A 29-year old quadriplegic, Charlie took a ride in a Camaro convertible after being lowered into the front seat from his wheel chair with a harness that D-MAN brought for the occasion. Then a family member rode in the Chevy\u2019s rear seat in order to monitor his ventilator.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the noise the Camaro makes,\u201d said Charlie when asked the best part of GM\u2019s iconic pony car – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary at this year\u2019s Cruise.<\/p>\n
Starlight makes some beautiful music of his won, having just cut his first album, \u201cThe Beginning of Charlie Starlight\u201d with D-MAN\u2019s Music Therapy Productions. D-MAN uses music as therapy for its patients \u2013 including developing software that compliments their musical abilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vocational therapy. It\u2019s breathing therapy. It makes me use my musical skills to their full ability,\u201d says quadriplegic Al Floyd, 46, who can activate virtual keyboards and percussion with head and eye movements in order to create accompaniment with his vocals. He recently recorded a single, \u201cMy Home Detroit.\u201d<\/p>\n