OCEANSIDE -- With an in-floor ramp for easy wheelchair loading, Elsa Fisher says the $53,000 Dodge Caravan she received from a fund for 9/11 survivors has changed her life by making everyday errands less stressful and more enjoyable.

The motorized-wheelchair-accessible van was purchased through the Northern Virginia Family Services' Survivors Fund Project, which provides longterm "living" assistance to families affected by the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Fisher said her older brother Gerald "Geep" Fisher, who worked for Booz Allen & Hamilton, a global strategy and technology consulting firm, died on 9/11 while attending a meeting with Army officials at the Pentagon when it was struck by a commercial jetliner that had been taken over by terrorists.

She said she qualified for support from the project because her brother provided regular financial assistance to her. Since her only source of income is Social Security disability benefits, she said, she often needed additional assistance to cover costs.

Fisher said she considers the van "magic," because it has the ramp for easy loading, hydraulics to raise and lower it from the ground, and a "push button" to open the rear hatch.

Since the Oceanside resident relies heavily on a motorized wheelchair in public, she said the van has changed her life by making it much more convenient to go places.

"Now, I can just run into the store to get a few things," she said, joking that she is used to stocking up on food to avoid frequent trips.

Since she was a child, Fisher has suffered from a variety of arthritic ailments and other conditions, including five herniated discs. She also has a condition since childhood that has caused a vertebra in the lower spine to permanently slip forward.

Although she can walk, she said she can't go for more than a block before she is in pain.

She said the Survivors Fund was established from United Way donations to help people with living-related expenses. In the past, she said, she has received assistance for things such as car repairs or her motorized scooter.

She the Survivors Fund organization approached her to see if the van was something she needed.

"They really thought longterm," she said.

Previously, she had a 1996 Honda Odyssey with 200,000-plus miles and a pulley-style system that attached to her wheelchair. To load it, she would use the pulley to swing her wheelchair into a space that was barely big enough for it to fit.

Now, she can easily drive the wheelchair into and out of the van.

As she talked about how generous the organization has been with her during a recent interview, she also reflected on why it is offering assistance -- her brother's death.

Although the siblings lived on opposite coasts, she said "we were close in a distant way."

Most of all, she described him as a "joyous" man who kept the family spirits high.

"His relaxed demeanor was so disarming that he captured the hearts of all who knew him," she said.

She said he was a down-to-earth man who helped his family as much as he could.

"My brother always came through for us," she said.

As for the van and how it has altered her life, she grinned and said, "It's a freedom I just never thought of or expected."