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Donated Medical Equipment Provides Hope and Healing

Hampton Roads residents in need of medical equipment may find the help they need at Goodwill Industries in Virginia Beach

WRITTEN BY Brenda H. Welch
Photography by Dawn Griffith
This article was originally published in the Hampton Roads Health Journal - June 2008

Up until a few months ago, 42-year-old Keith Jones was overwhelmed with hopelessness.

For the past four years, Jones had struggled with the debilitating effects of a nerve disorder as well as Lupus, a condition in which the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive, forming antibodies that attack normal tissues and organs including the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, heart, lungs and blood.

As a result of the Lupus, Jones was also diagnosed with Raynaud’s syndrome—a condition in which blood flow to the surface tissue of the hands and feet is temporarily decreased— and Ménière’s disease, a disorder of the inner ear that affects hearing and balance.

Jones’s illnesses soon forced him to quit his job driving a tractor trailer, and eventually he was unable to walk for more than a few minutes without losing his breath. His health insurance only covered his manual wheelchair, which is difficult for him to use because of his lack of stamina. He needed a power wheelchair but knew of no affordable way to get one.

“I could’nt leave the house unless I had someone with me who could push the wheelchair,” Jones, a Virginia Beach resident, recalls. “I am a husband, and father to a teenager, and I wasn’t able to actively participate in their lives like I wanted to. I felt like couldn’t do anything except be sick, and I was angry and depressed.”

All of that changed when his friend told him about Goodwill Industries’ Medical Adaptive/Assistive Technology Program (MA/ATP). “When I contacted Goodwill my life changed, and I felt hope for the first time in a long time,” Jones says.

A community resource changes lives

The Goodwill MA/ATP facility, located at 5565 Virginia Beach Blvd., opened in October 2007 and provides donated medical and adaptive equipment and supplies to people of any age with disabilities as well as agencies or organizations that serve those with disabilities, the indigent, the elderly and children. Donated items—which earn donors a tax deduction—are inspected, repaired if needed, cleaned and distributed at no cost to individuals in need. Recipients must provide a prescription from a doctor or other medical professional and complete an application, which can be done by phone or at the Goodwill facility.

“I desperately needed a power wheelchair but couldn’t afford it without help from my health insurance,” Jones remembers. “Once I heard that the program existed, I got a prescription from my doctor for the power wheelchair, went to the store to fill out the application and meet with Caesar Monzon, and I was given the exact chair I needed on the spot—no strings attached. My spirit has been renewed, and I am once again able to be an active participant in my life.”

Monzon is a venerable jackof- all-trades who, up until recently, single-handedly managed the Virginia Beach MA/ ATP program. The addition of an office assistant has freed up Monzon’s time considerably, and he doesn’t waste a minute of it. During the course of a day he is constantly on the go—driving around town, picking up donations and dropping off equipment to people in need. He also salvages, repairs and cleans equipment; and he assists people on the phone and in person at the store.

“I found Mr. Monzon to be knowledgeable and more than willing to help me with all of my needs,” Jones says. “He is professional and truly cares about people and loves his job, which made my experience with the Goodwill program all the better.”

Monzon agrees that he does love his job because he is able to help people regain mobility and, as in Jones’s case, a sense of self-worth. “Disabled individuals should be given the tools they need to continue being vital members of the community, but many times they hit a wall either because of health insurance limitations or the inability to afford health insurance at all,” Monzon says. “This program empowers everyone. People who have used equipment that they don’t need anymore feel good about being able to help others, and recipients of the equipment feel good that someone they don’t even know cares enough to donate.”

Local organizations and individuals working together

This sense of community bolstered Joann Ervin in January 2006 when the Virginia Assistive Technology System (VATS), a statewide program authorized and funded by the Assistive Technology Act of 2004, tasked her with creating a medical equipment recycling program in Hampton Roads using funds provided through a federal grant. The mission of VATS is to ensure that Virginians of all ages and abilities can acquire the appropriate, affordable assistive technologies and services they need to participate in society as active citizens.

As the coordinator for the southeast regional site of VATS, headquartered at Old Dominion University, Ervin had the necessary connections in the community to form the implementing committee for the project. “Thecollaboration that occurred between more than a dozen healthcare-related resources in our area was really remarkable,” Ervin says. “No one hesitated to get on board and make this project a reality. It was a moving, powerful experience.”

Organizations represented in the implementing committee included the Endependence Center, Medi Home Health and Hospice Agency, Rehab Health Care, Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia, Physicians for Peace, Mobility Center of Virginia, and Aid and Information for the Elderly. Committee members from each of these organizations met monthly to research similar programs and hammer out the details, but a large piece of the puzzle eluded them—they needed the space to house a large amount of medical equipment.

Ervin learned that Goodwill Industries in Richmond ran a successful Medical and Adaptive Gifting Program and traveled to the area to meet with the coordinators and tour the facility. The relationship blossomed into Goodwill representatives expressing an interest in expanding their program to Hampton Roads, which led to the purchase of 2,000 square feet of space at the Goodwill facility on Virginia Beach Boulevard.

Monzon says that the facility, which is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., is stocked with various equipment and supplies including manual wheelchairs, power chairs/ scooters, ambulatory devices (e.g., walkers, canes, crutches), bathroom safety equipment (e.g., bedside commodes, shower chairs/benches, raised toilet seats), electric hospital beds, disposable supplies such as protective underwear and padding, supplemental drinks, lifts and more.

“This program is blessed with the amount of medical equipment donations we receive,” Monzon says, but he adds that “we are struggling with acquiring batteries for the power wheelchairs. They are expensive and a necessity, so any help the community can give us in that regard would be greatly appreciated.” Volunteers are also needed to help clean and repair donated equipment and to pick up and deliver donated items. The facility’s lease on a power wheelchairaccessible van is up in a few months, and Monzon and members of the implementing committee are on the lookout for an affordable, reliable replacement.

Keith Jones, who received a donated power wheelchair from Goodwill, stresses the need for safe lifts for vehicles, which cost approximately $3,000. “For those of us who need the medical resources that Goodwill is providing, money is clearly a huge issue,” he says. “It is scary, depressing, and frustrating to be in a position where you literally are not able to leave the house because of a disability. I am thankful to Goodwill and those who donate for giving me my freedom back, but more than that, I am thankful for the reminder this experience has provided me—that there are many people in my community that care enough to help their neighbors in need. That has uplifted my heart immeasurably.”