Free Home Health Equipment Loans Increase 43% at St. Louis HELP in 2014

Introduction

St. Louis HELP, the non-profit organization that freely loans home health equipment to people who need it, loaned 43 percent more home health equipment in 2014 than in 2013, reflecting greater needs in metro St. Louis.

Main Digest

St. Louis HELP loaned 6,193 items in 2014 including hospital beds, wheelchairs, scooters, elevated toilet seats, lift chairs, walkers, crutches and other reconditioned home health equipment that St. Louis HELP cleaned and repaired before loaning for as long as people need them. The group received 9,740 telephone Requests for Equipment, a 14 percent increase over 2013.

"St. Louis HELP continues to increase the amount of used home medical equipment that we collect, recondition and distribute free to those in need," said Founder and Executive Director Laura Cannon-Singer.

"Demand for our services is increasing," she said. "Although our equipment loans in 2014 increased 43 percent over 2013, donors of used medical equipment that we clean and recondition increased only five percent in 2014."

"We now face potential inventory shortages and are soliciting donations of used home health equipment that we can clean, repair and recycle as free loans to people who are ill, injured, disabled or elderly."

"We accept donations of nearly every type of home medical equipment in good working condition except oxygen and medications. For information or to donate used home health equipment, call (314) 567-4700."

St. Louis HELP, a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization, is headquartered at a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in the St. Louis suburb of Olivette filled with donated wheelchairs, crutches, canes, beds and other devices that it cleans and reconditions. The organization is almost entirely by volunteers.

In 2014, St. Louis HELP diverted more than 138 tons of used home health equipment from landfills. In addition, St. Louis HELP received a prestigious "Point of Light Award" from Points of Light, the volunteer management organization founded in 1990 in response to President George Bush's call for volunteer community service.

"Our goals for 2015 are to be able to increase the number of people that we serve, sustain or increase the number of collection service hours at our warehouse and in-home collections, engage more volunteers and to divert more used home health equipment from landfills," Cannon-Singer said.

Call (314) 567-4700.

Attribution/Source(s):

This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by St. Louis HELP, and published on 2015/01/20 (Edit Update: 2023/09/12), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, St. Louis HELP can be contacted at stlhelp.org. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.

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Cite This Page (APA): St. Louis HELP. (2015, January 20 - Last revised: 2023, September 12). Free Home Health Equipment Loans Increase 43% at St. Louis HELP in 2014. Disabled World. Retrieved September 13, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/medical/increased.php

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