Since 2014, REquipment has distributed more than 13,000 donated devices across Massachusetts, returned more than $23 million in value to the community, and kept hundreds of tons of equipment out of landfills.
>13,000
gently used devices provided
free across Massachusetts |
>$23M
in value returned
to the community |
hundreds of tons
diverted from landfills
and refurbished |
REquipment grew out of an unmet need in Massachusetts. Wheelchair users had no program providing backup mobility equipment when their primary equipment needed replacement or repair. Routine delays with repairs and insurance billing processes threatened wheelchair users’ employment, education, community access, and physical and mental health. People spent weeks in bed in need of a simple part or repair, an industry problem that continues to this day.
In response, disability advocates and state agency leaders came together in 2011 to seek a stopgap solution to this broken system. They envisioned a statewide durable medical equipment (DME) reuse program as a workaround to entrenched industries and interests.
In 2013, under Karen Langley’s program development leadership at EOHHS, REquipment was piloted to serve Greater Boston with support from the Shapiro Family Foundation, Spaulding Rehabilitation, and The Boston Home. In 2015, Karen retired from state government and registered REquipment, Inc. as a nonprofit, taking an unpaid position as the organization’s first CEO. The program soon scaled statewide, blossoming with public-private partnerships and allies in the state legislature.
Today, the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) provide extraordinary in-kind support, including two reuse facilities (DDS in Worcester and DPH in Canton) and a full-time technician (DDS in Worcester). Funded partners include UCP of Western MA, which serves multiple roles, including the provision of the assistive technology reuse component of the program; Stavros Center for Independent Living in Amherst refurbishes and delivers equipment; and additional Independent Living Centers serve as drop-off locations for donations and provide program outreach to individuals with disabilities in their communities.
From a pilot that provided just 39 pieces of DME in Greater Boston in its first year, REquipment has since provided more than 13,000 pieces of DME and AT throughout the Commonwealth. In 2024 alone, an estimated 63 tons of valuable equipment were diverted from disposal and provided to Massachusetts households that needed it.
In 2023, Karen Langley passed the torch to Adriana Mallozzi, realizing her dream for REquipment to be helmed by a disability community leader and user of assistive technology.
