HIGHLIGHTING THE GMACHS—ROUTBERG MEDICAL SUPPLY GMACH OF CHICAGO

The den of Leah Hupert’s West Rogers Park home looks more like a hospital than a family room. Its walls are lined with about a dozen wheelchairs. And her basement isn’t much roomier – it’s filled with walkers, crutches, canes, bath chairs, bedside commodes and other similar equipment.

Mrs. Hupert isn’t running a business. She operates the Routberg Medical Supply Gemach, a division of Chicago Chesed Fund, which lends durable medical equipment (DMEs) free of charge to those who can’t afford to purchase them.

The gemach was founded in the 1990s by Mrs. Malka Routberg, in memory of her daughter, Esther Tehela, who had cerebral palsy and passed away at age 19. At the time, Mrs. Routberg asked Mrs. Hupert, a close friend – and physical therapist – to run it.

Mrs. Hupert soon proved to be just the woman for the job.  

As a physical therapist, she was able to properly measure and fit anyone who needed equipment. She was also able to teach them how to use the equipment, and make sure it was safe and worked well.

Today, with increasing cuts to healthcare, the need for the gemach is even greater.

Medical equipment can cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars,” says Mrs. Hupert. “Medicare and some insurances only pay for a limited amount of equipment, and some people need multiple things. Then there are people whose equipment breaks before they are eligible for a new one.”

Mrs. Hupert estimates that she now receives about five to eight calls a month. The calls come mostly from people who were recently injured or had to undergo surgery.  Most come to Mrs. Hupert’s home to pick up the equipment, but in cases of great need, she'll bring the equipment to them.

“If someone is injured and needs to be fitted with equipment and they can’t get out, I’ll do my best to go to them,” she says.

According to Mrs. Hupert, the most commonly requested item is wheelchairs, and there is always an increase in requests around the holidays, when many people have parents or grandparents coming to visit who can’t walk long distances.

In total, there are several dozen pieces of equipment available at the gemach. Most of it is stored in Mrs. Hupert’s home, but some of the larger pieces, including a wheelchair-accessible ramp, are housed at Chicago Chesed Fund’s warehouse in Lincolnwood.

And while the majority of the equipment is donated by community members, when there is a great need for specific items, Chicago Chesed Fund will fund them. The organization recently purchased two roll-a-bout scooters for those with injuries below the knee, such as broken legs or sprained ankles.

“The most amazing thing has been the round-a-bout scooter,” says Mrs. Hupert. “It makes it so much easier to get around. I wish we had more of them.”

Mrs. Hupert keeps a small file with index cards for each person who borrows equipment. She doesn’t know exactly how many families she’s helped since the 1990s, but estimates that it’s several hundred.

She quickly points out that she doesn’t get all the credit. Over the years, the gemach has turned into something of a family project. Her husband, Dr. Jordan Hupert, is a pediatrician, and her two daughters both work in therapy fields.

“My husband encourages me to do it and he helps me,” she says. “And my children are older and they help too.”

As to why Mrs. Hupert keeps running the gemach, especially when the founder long ago moved out of Chicago, she says it feels right.

“I feel like I’m good at it and it’s a way I can help people,” she says. “I guess you could say this is the right gemach for our family.”