Genie Guilliams is a Busy Lady at St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program

Genie Guilliams is a high energy lady who wears many hats as a staff member at the not-for-profit St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program (St. Louis HELP).

She is a talented multi-tasker with a big smile and a twinkle in her blue eyes.
“Manager” is probably her best known job title.

Genie works as a contact for donors and as a route coordinator for St. Louis HELP’s trucks; event coordinator for fundraisers and equipment donation drives; lunch planner for warehouse staffers and volunteers; and as St. Louis HELP archivist, researcher and writer of operations manuals.

With a career background working for nonprofit organizations — Genie served as a registered nurse and, also, as director of a private school association — she is well-suited for her multi-faceted role with St. Louis HELP.
Plus, she has good connections there — Genie’s husband Dennis was the organization’s founding president in 2008, and today he serves as a volunteer worker and fundraiser.

“I joke that when I joined St. Louis HELP in January 2015 they got two people in one,” she says. “I love it and the great charitable work that we do.”

Loaning Home Medical Equipment for Free

The mission of St. Louis HELP is to provide greater St. Louis residents with virtually all types of home medical equipment by loaning it for free to anyone who needs it, such people recovering from accidents, disabilities illness, surgery and people who are elderly or infirm.

“We assist hundreds of people every month and that is very gratifying,” Genie says.

Since its origin in 2008 St. Louis HELP has loaned more than 51,000 home health items — for free — to people in all walks of life, without regard to their income. They may keep the equipment they borrow for as long as needed. “We simply asks clients to return it when they are through using it so it can get passed along,” Genie says. (http://www.stlhelp.org)

“We have a warehouse in Olivette where we collect, clean and revitalize used and new equipment that people donate to us,” she adds.

“Thankfully, we have a small, skilled staff that is extremely helpful, and we are lucky to have many talented volunteers — we couldn’t survive without them,” she says. “And our board of directors is very dedicated– we love every member!”

“No matter what type of home health item people may need — from the common to the esoteric — we probably have it. We loan manual and power wheelchairs, scooters, canes, crutches, walkers, shower chairs, grab bars, elevated toilet seats, portable commodes, lift chairs, seating cushions, back supports, folding ramps, stair lifts and almost any other type of medical device. Child-sized and super-sized items are also available.”

“Thanks to an anonymous donor in St. Louis, we designated a private area in our warehouse for pediatric equipment. It provides privacy for children and their caregivers to try different items, such as wheelchairs and pediatric standers. We have seen growth in pediatric recipients as a result of this new space,” Genie says.
“In addition, we opened The Women’s Center in our warehouse to offer free loans of wigs, bras and prosthetics for women who are victims of breast cancer.”

“The Women’s Center assists women who have suffered from cancer, related treatments or surgery keep their dignity and self-esteem with free loans of crucial items,” says Genie, who is the mother of two daughters.

Health Equipment Donation Drive

Genie and the St. Louis HELP staff, as well as volunteers, will be super busy on Saturday October 14, 2017, with the St. Louis HELP Home Health Equipment Donation Drive.

People can drop off any new or used home medical equipment they don’t need at St. Louis HELP’s lending warehouse, or at 15 designated Walgreen’s parking lots in metro St. Louis.

All equipment donors will receive validation for a federal tax deduction. The event is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at all locations.

For a list of drop-off locations please see list at bottom of this story or at the website http://www.stlhelp.org, or call 314–567–4700.

“Recycling is Us”

“We are implementing the vision, strategies and activities that our Executive Director Laura Cannon-Singer created when she founded St. Louis HELP in 2008,” Genie points out.

“Laura is deeply committed to helping people and deeply committed to recycling. She joined both of those important elements into her vision for St. Louis HELP. That makes us part of a unique organization.”

“Annually, we collect about 12,000 items of donated equipment,” says Genie. “We clean, recondition and revitalize it. Nothing goes to waste. Broken equipment parts are used for repairs. Broken wooden crutches are recycled to a wood chipper — what we can’t use, we recycle.”

“In this way we divert about 150 tons of equipment from solid waste landfills every year. You might say ‘Recycling is us.’”

U.S. law regarding domestic re-use of some types of health equipment, including devices designed for single use, is a tangle of regulatory, medical, legal and economic issues. In dozens of foreign nations, however, regulations for importing and re-using many types of medical devices are less strict than in the U.S.

For this reason, St. Louis HELP is able to directly and indirectly provide much-needed home health equipment to various foreign countries, and also to partner with global humanitarian organizations such as MedShare that distribute reusable medical equipment around the world.

“It is amazing how St. Louis HELP came together almost ten years ago and has stayed together and done so much good for so many people,” says Genie.

“That’s a testament to the great people who work at our warehouse and volunteer with the organization, who serve on our board of directors, and who support us as donors,” Genie says.

“St. Louis HELP is the only organization of its kind in the United States, we are very proud.”

If you would like to borrow or donate new or used home medical equipment, please call St. Louis HELP at 314 567 4700. For information please see the website http://stlhelp.org.

Equipment Drop Off Locations
You can donate your unused home medical equipment on October 14 at these designated Walgreens locations:
8571 Watson Road
314–962–5545 — Webster Groves
(Watson & Elm)

1 Grasso Plaza
314–631–8800 — Affton
(Gravois & S. Rock Hill)

9801 Manchester Road
314–963–3256 — Rock Hill
(Manchester & Kortwright)

13992 Manchester Road
636–227–9228 — Manchester
(Manchester & Weidman)

4400 Lemay Ferry Road
314–487–0636 — South County
(Lemay & Forder)

14950 Clayton Road
636–527–7873 — Chesterfield
(Clarkson & Baxter)

12345 St. Charles Rock Road
314–770–2479 — Bridgeton
(St. Charles Rock Rd. & 270)

3920 Hampton Avenue
314–351–2100 — South City
(Hampton & Chippewa)

460 N. Lindbergh/Hwy 67
314–831–6448 — Florissant
(Lindbergh & Washington)

2310 South Old Highway 94
636–477–7996 — St. Charles
(Old Hwy 94 & Muegge Rd.)

5890 North Belt West
618–277–4440 — Belleville
(N. Belt West & Frank Scott)

1001 Bowles Avenue
636–343–0754 — Fenton
(Bowles & Highway 141)

2329 W. Clay Street
636–949–6613 — St. Charles
(West Clay & Droste)

250 East 4th Street
636 938 5635 Eureka
(Hwy 190 & Hwy 44)

9709 Dielman Rock Island Drive
314–567–4700 — Olivette
(Off of the west side of Dielman)
***