REquipment DME Reuse Program

12/05/2025

12/04/2025

Now available in the REquipment inventory, free to a Massachusetts resident:

A Drive manual wheelchair with a single-arm drive attachment for use with one arm.

This wheelchair has a seat width of 18" and is configured for a right-handed driver. The single-arm drive can be converted for a leftie, but it will require additional parts to be acquired by the user.

Know someone who needs this chair? This is the power of this reuse community. Please share this post to help find its next user. REquipment delivers statewide for $20.

Request it here: https://f.mtr.cool/junwxhpjxb

UCP of Western Massachusetts
Stavros Center For Independent Living
AdLib Center for Independent Living
Center For Living And Working, Inc
Northeast Independent Living Program CORD - Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled
Disability Resource Center
SCIL, Southeast Center for Independent Living
Independence Associates

12/03/2025

REquipment is thrilled to report that yesterday, our Giving Tuesday total reached $7,675 -- with the final gift arriving after 10 pm -- helping to blow our fundraising thermometer and secure the $5,000 matching gift offered by a generous program supporter.

You did this, and we are so grateful. Your dollars will go a long way toward refurbishing urgently needed durable medical equipment and assistive technology, such as the stroller shown in this photo that Daniel received.

More individuals with disabilities and their families will benefit because of your generosity. So many households need equipment and can get it in no other way.

Our hearts are very full today.

12/03/2025

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a global reminder of the importance of inclusion, accessibility, and equal opportunity for all. There are an estimated 1.3 billion persons with disabilities worldwide.

At REquipment, we see every day how access to the right equipment can open doors—to independence, safety, community participation, and joy. Our durable medical equipment reuse program ensures that wheelchairs, rollators, communication devices, and so much more get a second life and reach the people who need them most across Massachusetts.

By keeping valuable equipment out of landfills and with individuals and families, we’re helping build a more accessible and inclusive world, one device at a time.

If you have gently used equipment to donate or you know someone who can benefit, learn more at: DMEreuse.org

UCP of Western Massachusetts
Stavros Center For Independent Living
AdLib Center for Independent Living
Center For Living And Working, Inc
Northeast Independent Living Program
CORD - Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled
Disability Resource Center
SCIL, Southeast Center for Independent Living
Independence Associates

12/02/2025

Today is Giving Tuesday, the international day of giving.

Why give to REquipment?

Because your support helps a person with a disability get the equipment they need — for free — right here in Massachusetts.

Every donated wheelchair, rollator, recreation device, lift, and more gets refurbished and distributed to a person with a disability or a family who needs it. No insurance necessary. No provider hoops or hassles. Just less waste, more access, and more independence for kids, adults, seniors, and families across the state.

Your Giving Tuesday gift powers this reuse community. Working together, we distributed over $4 million worth of equipment statewide in FY25.

Please help REquipment meet a generous $5,000 match by midnight.

Donate here: tinyurl.com/REQgiv

12/02/2025

Great ways to advocate with the Disability Policy Consortium

November Action Round Up

As we mark Giving Tuesday, we invite you to support this work so we can keep showing up where it matters most. Every hearing we testify at, every community call we facilitate, and every forum we host is powered by people who believe disabled voices deserve space and influence. If you are able, please consider donating at dpcma.org/donate to help ensure we can continue leading, organizing, and mobilizing in the months ahead.

November reminded us why disabled leadership matters. Across hearings, forums, housing advocacy, and community meetings, our people showed up with clarity, courage, and solutions, and systems are beginning to respond.

Advocacy Highlights

This month, DPC testified at two major hearings:

• H.245 Stop the Shock, where survivors described lifelong trauma and called for change.
• S.2714 Service Animal Discrimination, where service animal handlers shared the access barriers they face and why accountability is needed.

~ Our Senior Community Organizer Sam deepened our presence at the State House by testifying at two additional hearings focused on mental health and peer support including Behavioral Health Reform Omnibus S.1394 and the Peer Respite Bill H.2231 and S.1383. These testimonies helped ensure disability lived experience is guiding conversations about behavioral health policy and crisis response.

~ Momentum continued on wheelchair repair reform. S.210 was reported out favorably and moved forward as S.2662 to Health Care Financing. This milestone reflects months of testimony, community education, and lived experience shared by wheelchair users across Massachusetts.

~ Behind the scenes, our community organizers Sam and Emma continued advocacy on the Healthcare Anti Discrimination Bill, building relationships and pushing for action in committee. Progress is often planted quietly before it blooms publicly, and their work is helping lay that groundwork.

~ The Housing Advocacy Leadership Team known as HALT was at the State House urging support for H.1481 and S.1004 to expand AHVP vouchers. Members thanked House lawmakers for their work and encouraged Senators to take up the bill next.

Community Impact and Connection

Policy change grows from community, not the other way around.

~ Earlier this month, alongside BCIL, we co hosted a DAAHR forum focused on upcoming One Care changes. Attendance was strong and the concerns raised were clear. As a direct result of this feedback, One Care and MassHealth are now reviewing why consumers have been receiving bills. That kind of response shows the power of organized voice.

~ We also joined partners at the 30th Annual Health Law Advocates Breakfast, celebrating three decades of work advancing health equity and uplifting stories of impact. Being in that room reminded us how many people and organizations are pushing toward a more just healthcare system and how essential disability voices are in that movement.

Throughout November, our consistent community spaces continued to meet, share, and strategize:

• Unstuck A Community in Motion, meeting every other Monday at 11am
• HALT membership gatherings
• CODA our Commissions on Disability gatherings

These spaces are where stories become strategy, barriers become organizing points, and new advocates learn their strength.

How You Can Be Part of the Work

Stay connected
~ Sign up for our biweekly newsletter for updates, action alerts, and ways to get involved: tinyurl.com/DPC-newsletter

Join Unstuck
~ Help shape our wheelchair user education and awareness campaign: tinyurl.com/DPC-Unstuck

Share your experience with wheelchair repairs
~ If you are a wheelchair user especially in North End, Chinatown, Beacon Hill, Downtown Boston, Financial District, Back Bay, South End, or Bay Village and have faced delays getting your chair fixed, your story matters. Contact Destiny at dmaxam@dpcma.org or 617 804 5329.

Amplify our message
~ Follow DPC on social media and share our Why It Matters Monday series to widen understanding and build momentum.

November reminded us that when disabled people speak, organize, and lead, systems shift. Thank you to everyone who testified, logged on, advocated, emailed, and showed up. Together we are building momentum, and we are only getting started.

12/01/2025

Update: This item has been requested by a family in Tewksbury!
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Now available! A terrific tool for sensory therapy and more, free thanks to the generosity of the REquipment reuse community.

The Homestead II is suitable for children and adults. It features:

1. Adjustable height
2. Portability- fits most car trunks
3. Can hold up to 250 lbs!
4. Easy setup

This set comes with a foldable padded mat and a platform swing. Additional attachments may be acquired at the manufacturer's website.

Help REquipment find a terrific family for this gently used swing.

Please share this post and make someone's day!

The link to this swing is in the comments.

REquipment refurbishes donated durable medical equipment and assistive technology and makes it available free to residents of Massachusetts. Browse the inventory. Large items can be delivered statewide for $20. Pickup is free.



UCP of Western Massachusetts
Stavros Center For Independent Living
AdLib Center for Independent Living
Center For Living And Working, Inc
Northeast Independent Living Program
CORD - Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled
Disability Resource Center
SCIL, Southeast Center for Independent Living
Independence Associates

11/30/2025

Giving Tuesday is December 2nd, and REquipment is delighted to announce a $5,000 matching gift challenge. Thanks to a generous donor, gifts made to REquipment by midnight on Tuesday are doubled!

Gifts to REquipment go a long way.

$15 can buy commercial-grade biodegradable soap to clean donated equipment.

$25 can buy tires for a manual wheelchair so a child can attend school while recovering from injury.

$50 can provide footplates for a power wheelchair, so a woman can stay active in her community.

$100 can buy a battery charger for a power wheelchair. Equipping a veteran when the VA won't.

$300.00 can buy new batteries for a scooter, equipping a former paratrooper to get into his community.

$500 can refurbish an all-terrain power wheelchair so a child can get outside.

Please give today at tinyurl.com/REQgiv

[Video description in comments]

11/28/2025

Help REquipment meet an exciting $5,000 match! December 2nd is Giving Tuesday, the international day of giving, and your support will be doubled.

Joyce Hayman-Devolve has been a champion of our beloved REquipment community for years, as a mother to her son Daniel, as a nurse case manager who has referred many people to the program, and as a donor.

“I’ve seen again and again how refurbished equipment promotes dignity, community, inclusion, safety, and lives well lived,” she says.

With your support, REquipment can continue giving a second life to valuable equipment that should never be discarded.

Make a gift by midnight on Giving Tuesday, and it will be matched dollar for dollar.

Donate here: tinyurl.com/REQgiv

11/26/2025

Happy "Why REquipment Wednesday"

Great news! Thanks to your shares, the adult trike we posted about has already been requested by a family in Central Massachusetts.

They told us, “He cannot ride a regular bike because of poor muscle strength. We cannot afford to get him a special bike.”

This is why REquipment matters.
This is why your shares matter.
This is why reuse changes lives.

You donate equipment. We refurbish it. You spread the word. A family receives recreation equipment for just $20, and someone gets access to joy and mobility they didn’t have before.

Have recreation equipment you’re not using anymore? These donations are rare and deeply appreciated, especially during the holidays.

Learn more: https://f.mtr.cool/kqjcovijwl

UCP of Western Massachusetts
Stavros Center For Independent Living
AdLib Center for Independent Living
Center For Living And Working, Inc
Northeast Independent Living Program
CORD - Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled
Disability Resource Center
SCIL, Southeast Center for Independent Living
Independence Associates

11/25/2025

Accessible toys

Join our 100 Switch-Adapted Holiday Toy Drive! Enabling children to engage with their favorite toy not only encourages independence, it also fosters the development of fine motor skills and social interaction. Together we can make playtime possible one toy at a time! To register for a toy before Dec 15th or to donate, use the QR Code or email: tkelley@reqinc.com

***Watch a short video on the process of creating a switch-adapted toy in our comment section below.