DAYTON, Ohio — A Dayton program is turning used medical equipment into a way to help people with disabilities.
What You Need To Know
- The Access Center for Independent Living runs the Recycled Equipment Donated for Individuals project
- The group just got a grant from the city of Dayton for more than $250,000 for a bigger space
- Organizers said the bigger building will help them house more medical equipment that will go to families in need
For almost 20 years, Jeff Allen has been in a wheelchair.
“I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome,” Allen said. “I don’t walk around as much because I still have a balance issue.”
He said he knows staying mobile comes at a cost.
“We get the power chairs that are really expensive, you know, for us even keeping the maintenance on them if we had to replace the batteries, you know, that can be expensive and ranging from anywhere to $150 to $300,” Allen said.
It’s part of the reason he’s the program coordinator behind the Recycled Equipment Donated for Independence Project in Dayton. REDI is a program where they take in donated medical equipment, clean it, and give it back out to families who otherwise can’t afford it.
“If you can’t afford the things that keep you independent or keep you mobile, then, you know, that puts you at risk for ending up in some sort of a facility or in the hospital again,” said Jeremy Caffee, executive director of Access Center for Independent Living.
The ACIL runs the REDI medical equipment program.
“People looking to get out of nursing facilities where COVID was running rampant, people that, um, coming out of the hospital maybe from a COVID diagnosis that needed just the equipment for a, a short term or a short period of time. So that really, really ramped up our program a lot over the last two years,” Caffee said.
It’s why the group just moved into a bigger space to take in more equipment and more than $250,000 from a Dayton city grant is helping them do it.
“Being in a wheelchair myself and being able to provide, you know, to the community and help people, man, it, it’s really gratifying for me,” Allen said.
The city grant the group received is a part of Dayton’s recovery plan to help support community groups and projects.
More information on how to get medical equipment may be found here.
