Project Embrace repurposes used medical equipment for those in need

Do you have a set of crutches lying around? How about a walker or a wheelchair you once used but no longer need? Instead of it taking up space and collecting dust at home, one Utah organization is taking these medical items, giving them new life and finding them a new home.

“This is our restoration day,” said founder and CEO of Project Embrace, Mohan Sudabattula. “[This] is a bunch of medical equipment that we’ve collected over the course of the past few months. They’ve come in from hospitals, clinics, private individuals, who no longer need them, and what we do is we clean them up, refurbish them, and then get them out to low-resource settings or under-insured patients all around the world for free.”

Project Embrace said they take in all sorts of used medical equipment. Wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, boots and everything else in between, things people once needed but no longer use. They then clean it up, make any repairs needed, and send them to those who need them the most.

“We specifically target marginalized and underserved communities,” said Sudabattula. “Generally speaking, we work with the unsheltered refugees, undocumented patients, at-risk women and children, native and indigenous communities, and then occasionally we’ll send things abroad in times of crisis.”

Sadabattula said if they didn’t take in this equipment, it would end up elsewhere. Unused and later destroyed.

“All of this stuff, if we had not collected it, would go straight to the dump and the thing about that is because most of it is metal, right? It has to be incinerated.”

Since the items have to be melted down, Project Embrace says it contributes to pollution. So, by taking these items in and giving them to those who will use them, they reduce the waste created.

“We’ve prevented over 50,000 pounds of medical waste from being burned and incinerated into the atmosphere.”

Sadabatulla says it’s as easy as dropping the equipment off and they’ll take care of the rest. If you have an old walker or boot sitting around, consider donating because Project Embrace says you can change someone’s life for the better.

“From just trying to do the right thing and get people medical devices when they can’t afford it to being able to activate our own community and say you donating a set of crutches and giving it to us that can end up in rural India or it can end up on the reservation, or you can and it will make a lifetime of a difference and you don’t need to do much to make the world of a difference.”

Project Embrace is currently collecting donations and equipment to send to the Gaza Strip and the communities displaced there. ABC4