NASHUA – Joseph’s Closet, a new service through St. Joseph Hospital, opened this spring to connect people in need with second-hand durable medical equipment.

“Joseph’s Closet reflects an important part of our mission which is to reach out to the poor and disadvantaged in the community,” said Kathleen Rice Orshak, vice president of mission integration and ethics at St. Joseph Hospital, adding that the service is “following in the footsteps of the Grey Nuns who founded the hospital.”

The equipment – things like wheelchairs, walkers canes and more – can be notoriously expensive and not all health insurance plans cover the costs.

“There are a lot of people who don’t qualify, people who would have to go without it,” said Rice Orshak. Joseph’s Closet loans equipment for free, and can accept items back when recipients no longer need them.

Organized by the Care for a Cause committee and Mission Integration Department at St. Joseph Hospital, Joseph’s Closet will celebrate its grand opening along with Mayor Donnalee Lozeau at noon on Monday.

Sheila Caron, a St. Joseph Hospital spokeswoman, said 75 people and organizations have been invited to Monday’s event. “Agencies, organizations, housing, welfare; places whose constituents may benefit, or may donate equipment,” said Caron.

The shop opened April 13 in the basement of the Catholic Charities building at 261 Lake Street with two storage room and a washing facility for newly donated items.

Dozens of crutches, canes, walkers and shower chairs lined the walls of one storage room, while portable commodes and wheelchairs were parked in another. But Rice Orshak said what’s on display in the closet is only a sample of what they can offer the community.

For items too large to store, staff ask donors to hold on to the equipment until they find a match. “It’s because of limited space. For instance, someone calls and offers a hospital bed, and (a recipient) asks for one; we’d connect the two,” she said.

“We have humble beginnings,” said Rice Orshak. A team of six staff members take calls, set up appointments with donors and recipients, clean new donations and store items.

“Right now, we’re by appointment only for donations or for requesting equipment. The staff make arrangements for pick up and delivery too,” said Caron.

With the closet continually accepting and lending out equipment, the roster of available items changes, and staff act as brokers to give individuals what they need.

Rice Orshak said so far the matchmaking has been “serendipitous.”

“We are finding that when we get a request for a piece of equipment we do not have, it gets donated the next day,” she said. “It doesn’t always happen, but it’s kind of amazing.”

Organizations or individuals can donate to the closet. “Often times we get this equipment from people who no longer need it,” she said. “So we clean it, and certainly, if we don’t think it’s safe, we discard it.”

Rice Orshak said the top three items requested so far are walkers, wheelchairs and shower chairs, and a little can go a long way.

“Like a cane. We look at it and it’s just a cane, but to people who can’t afford it – we are overwhelmed with emotional gratitude from people we are helping. We are blessed to be able to provide this service,” she said.

The need in the community is there. “Before we officially opened we had calls, referrals from the First Church in Nashua,” said Rice Orshak.

The church previously ran a similar medical equipment operation called The Loaner’s Closet at First Church.

“They had the closet over there for a number of years, they empowered us to take this over,” she said.

Care for a Cause, the committee organizing Joseph’s Closet, works on a series of fundraisers and community outreach events throughout the year, such as the Lung Cancer Screening Program in October.

To donate or access Joseph’s Closet, call 579-5634 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Donations can be dropped off in Nashua at St. Joseph Healthcare Rehabilitation Services at 75 Northeastern Boulevard, St. Joseph Hospital Rehab at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Nashua at 2300 Southwood Drive and Rehabilitation Services at St. Joseph Hospital Family Medicine in Nashua at 460 Amherst Street.

Other donation sites include Rehabilitation Services at SJ Family Medical Center in Merrimack, 382 Daniel Webster Highway; Rehabilitation Services at St. Joseph Hospital Family Medicine in Hudson, 208 Robinson Road; and Rehabilitation Services at Milford Medical Center Physical Therapy, 442 Nashua Street.

Tina Forbes can be reached at 594-6402, tforbes@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_TinaF.