THE BEGINNING
The Rached family has its roots in small, rather obscure, humble beginnings. The patriarch of the family, Joseph Rached, arrived in the USA in the early 1960's. He had only the clothes on his back and a piece of paper with his aunt's Pennsylvania address, who did not know he was coming. He could not speak English. Yet, as fate would have it he came upon a New York City taxicab driver who spoke his native language and together they found his aunt's house.
Like many of our ancestors, a simple and poor immigrant, he came to America in search of work opportunities, a dream to raise a family and hopefully build a new life. The Rached family legacy began with Joseph working in a bakery six months after he arrived. He later married and earned his state license to sell insurance in Pennsylvania with John Hancock. Shortly thereafter he went to work with AFLAC and earning many promotions preparing him for the next chapter to be written.
THE TRANSITION
In 1985, Joseph and son Fares, the current Mobility Express president, started their own company. Fares began his mobility journey by working in an auto body shop. They wanted to provide work for others and hoped one day to provide the same opportunity to their family members. Fares started by helping his father deliver Electric Mobility Rascals to people's homes. They worked out of a small house storing products and parts in a single car garage and always available for repairs at the customer's home day or night.
In 1987, Joseph opened the state of Florida office for the Electric Mobility Company, as their state manager. Fares, was the State sales representative. Together they developed lon-standing relationships and friendships the old-fashion way - hard work, dedicated to service, building trust and letting nothing tarnish their personal integrity. Word of mouth and customer referrals spread continually. Their business grew and just seven years later in 1994 they became the proud new owners of that very same Electric Mobility Company.
THE TRANSFORMATION
1994: The company name was changed to Mobility Express. Their product lines expanded to wheelchair accessible vans, variety of mobility equipment and products, and custom Home Modifications.
1997-1998: Mobility Express became recognized as one of only a few "true" Mobility companies in America.
1999: Mobility Express had its first major business partner, VMI, a pioneer in the mobility vehicle industry, whose original founders were challenged to build a better handicap-accessible vehicle for a close family friend. VMI is now one of the largest manufacturers of wheelchair van conversions with a long history for building leading-edge mobility products for the disabled community.
2000-2005: Fares' leadership continued to grow Mobility Express, establishing strategic alliances and partnerships, and securing insurance companies' contracts to fulfill special Workers Compensation needs. Specialized "departments" were developed for custom Wheelchair Accessible Vans, Mobility Equipment Product lines, Rehabilitation Services, Home Modifications, and Service and Parts.
2005: Mobility Express had outgrown its brick and mortar facilities and moved into their beautiful Newport Richey, Florida headquarters where they continue to expand their reach, product lines, services, expert staff and new markets.
2008: Mobility Express purchased the original Largo facility where Fares and his father worked in 1987. They reinvested their resources to build and launch the company's new website www.mobilityexpress.com.
2008-2011: The company continued to grow its reputation for quality, integrity and service excellence under Fares' leadership. The Largo facility was completely refurbished and rebuilt.
2012: Mobility Express opened its third dealership location in Ocala, Florida to serve the communities of northern Florida.
TODAY Today's Mobility Express heritage comes from Joseph's old world work ethic, unbridled optimism and a deep gratitude for the opportunity to work and serve others. Fares now leads three-generations of the Rached family ownership. The Rached family owns and operates three Mobility Express Florida dealership locations and more expected.
The company has ships and services high quality mobility vans, equipment and products across America. They are carefully and selectively building strong relationships with reputable mobility partner-dealerships to deliver high quality products, services and support to a growing mobility customer family across America.