Used equipment project may have to fold for lack of a market
October 17, 2009
Helen Henderson
Used wheelchairs and electric scooters. Second-hand stair lifts and grab bars. Recycled bath transfer benches. Is there a market for buyers and sellers?
The Ontario March of Dimes hopes so. In partnership with Motion Specialties, it has been recycling donated equipment and offering it for sale to the public through MODmobility, an online enterprise that also acts as a job-training program for adults with physical disabilities who are on social assistance.
But getting the project on solid ground hasn't been easy. Currently, the March of Dimes is looking for new partners and fresh ideas on how to make the business sustainable.
MODmobility "had a huge response when it first started," says Ontario March of Dimes president Andria Spindel. "Then things dropped off."
"We just couldn't make it pay," says Motion Specialties president David Harding. The company will continue to participate in the project until mid-January. But Harding says there haven't been enough buyers to keep up the partnership beyond that.
Spindel agrees that MODmobility has suffered from a surfeit of donors, but she hopes the March of Dimes can come up with new ideas to give the project a second chance.
The way things work now, their website (modmobility.ca) acts as an online trading post through which equipment can be donated or bought. The project accepts only equipment that is in good condition or can be refurbished to that level.
Motion Specialties stores across Ontario accept donations on behalf of MODmobility. For donors who can't manage to drop equipment off, there is a $25 fee for pickup.
March of Dimes employment counsellors help unemployed adults with physical disabilities learn on-the-job skills helping to refurbish equipment and run the program. The idea is to make sure the second-hand products meet the needs of customers.
Purchasers can pick up products at Motion Specialties or have them delivered for a fee. Motion Specialties offers a six-month warranty on parts and labour. The March of Dimes issues tax receipts for donations valued at more than $50.
The challenges in making something like MODmobility into a viable business are indeed huge.
Picking up donations is very expensive, Spindel notes. As is finding space to store equipment while it is being refurbished and waiting to be sold.
But Spindel believes the enterprise is worth pursuing. She's convinced there's a market out there. It's a matter of getting the word out.
No one can dispute the fact that brand-new wheelchairs, bath chairs, stair lifts and other equipment for people with disabilities are out of the range of many pocketbooks. Even products that qualify for government funding assistance, through things such as the Ontario assistive devices program, place a huge burden on family budgets.
"Children outgrow wheelchairs quickly," Spindel notes. And some needs are intermittent or short-term.
It might be great for a family to have a wheelchair always at the ready for a visit from grandpa, but the cost of buying something new is prohibitive. That's the type of potential customer that would be perfect for MODmobility.
As a columnist covering disability issues, I often get queries from people offering equipment they no longer need. It's frustrating to think of things going to waste but tough to find ways of recycling.
I hope there's a way to make MODmobility work. Who knows, if the project is a success, governments might even consider funding second-hand assistive devices.
Just a thought.
If you've got some ideas or would like more information, you can check out modmobility.ca or email modmobility@marchofdimes.ca.
Helen Henderson is a freelance writer and disability studies student at Ryerson University. Her column appears Saturdays. helenhenderson@sympatico.ca
Toronto Star