South Dakota’s first mobile medical equipment library gets ready to hit the road

South Dakota’s first mobile medical equipment lending library will become a reality soon.

It’s being created by The Legacy Foundation, a Sioux Falls-based nonprofit that currently lends medical equipment of out of an office at 1000 N. West Ave.

The organization is one of six statewide chosen to receive an AARP 2024 Community Challenge grant, which will allow renovations on a bus, enabling the organization to provide medical equipment services across the state.

Eleanor and Mike Turner, the founders of The Legacy Foundation, had a son named Owen who was born in 2009 with a rare chromosome disorder, “so unique that no other case has ever been identified in any medical literature or database in the world,” Eleanor Turner said.

Owen lived for more than 12 difficult but brave years. The Legacy Foundation was established in his memory by his parents and a family friend/doctor after he died.

“When we moved to Sioux Falls in 2016, we knew it was already a fantastic hub for health care,” Turner said. “But we were surprised a medical equipment lending center didn’t exist.”

Turner said Owen hated anything attached to him and often would remove and break medical equipment, causing them to run out of supplies quickly.

“We found this was a very common story in the special needs parent world,” Turner said. “When he passed, we had a lot more time on our hands. We realized starting this nonprofit would be a good way to pay forward the generosity we’d received and provide for the community.”

The Legacy Foundation offers a wide variety of equipment for free under the name Owen’s Outfitters, everything from mobility devices to seating aids, therapy equipment, pumps, monitors, feeding equipment and items for bathroom safety. It’s open on weekdays by appointment and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

“Chronic illnesses come with a lot paperwork normally, so when it comes to the lending library, we keep things simple,” Turner said. “We just want the right stuff to get to the right people. If you need it, come and get it.”

Turner said The Legacy Foundation has an “open-door mindset” and keeps stats on the items it has loaned out.

“It’s great to see how much we’re keeping out of landfills,” Turner said. “It’s all free, and you can keep the item as long as it is useful to you.”

Turner explained that some items are one-use-only, but many items need only minor repairs and cleaning.

“We have found as more people and organizations hear about us that the need is even greater than we thought,” Turner said. “We provide supplies to both individuals and organizations and have formed great partnerships with other nonprofits.”

The Legacy Foundation finds medical equipment using private donations, outgrown equipment and partnerships with home health providers, Turner said.

“We’re often given brand-new things that were no longer needed or someone is switching brands,” Turner said. “We’ve gotten donations from pretty much anywhere.”

Turner said the organization is strict about what is put on the shelves.

“If we think it’s damaged or broken at all, we don’t put it out,” she said. “Our volunteers will clean up donations, and if something is damaged but repairable, we will fix it.”

Turner said volunteers are needed because the organization is are growing faster than it can keep up. The mobile lending library will need drivers, and help is always appreciated at the store.

The upcoming bus renovation will enable The Legacy Foundation to serve isolated rural and tribal communities, Turner said. The hope is to have it operational by this winter.

“We can’t wait to use the bus,” Turner said. “It has a cute little ramp, and it will be wrapped in pink with our branding. Pink was Owen’s favorite color.”

Additionally, the foundation supports a Legacy Trip, a program that works with the USD Sanford School of Medicine to take third-year medical students to Florida.

“The medical students work with families who have critically ill children,” Turner said. “We want the medical students to get a good understanding of the families and to see how their work impacts families up close.”

The Legacy Foundation has run the trip twice so far, and 2025 will be the third year.

“Currently, the trip is only open to medical students, but eventually we may expand to other health professions,” Turner said.