ReCares Network

What ReCares Network does

ReCares Network (legally "The ReCARES Network") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1996 by operating room nurse Liisa Nenonen, originally as the RACORSE Network established in 1990. The organization collects gently used durable medical equipment — including wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, shower chairs, canes, braces, transfer benches, and toilet risers — along with home health care supplies such as adult diapers, bed pads, gloves, wipes, and wound care items. These are sourced from families, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, then freely redistributed to Bay Area residents in need. ReCares has been supported since inception by the San Francisco Solid Waste Management Program and Alameda County Recycling Board, with current funding from foundations including the East Bay Foundation on Aging, StopWaste, and Highwind Impact Fund.

The organization operates through three physical redistribution sites across Bay Area counties: Oakland (2619 Broadway, Fridays 12-4pm — the largest and busiest site), San Francisco (63 Dorland Street, Thursdays 10am-3pm), and Marin (3100 Kerner Blvd, San Rafael, Wednesdays 11am-2pm, managed in partnership with Marin Environmental and Recycling). Distribution is entirely free of charge, on a first-come, first-served basis, with no appointments, insurance, or ID required. A secondary Large DME Referral System uses Google Forms to match donors and recipients of oversized equipment (hospital beds, hoyer lifts, electric wheelchairs, scooters, stair lifts) that cannot be stored at sites. Operations are primarily volunteer-run, with site managers in San Francisco (Steve Allen) and Marin (Carol O'Connor and Kathy Collins) and ongoing recruitment of bilingual (Spanish/Cantonese) volunteers.

The business model is donor-subsidized and free-to-recipient. ReCares generates no commercial revenue from equipment distribution; financial support comes from individual donations (via PayPal, credit card, or check) and grants. In 2023, the organization served 8,800 recipients and diverted 28,000 items of medical equipment from landfills. The go-to-market motion is community-led: word-of-mouth, social media (Instagram @recaresoakland), Google Maps listings, and community exchange platforms (Nextdoor, BuyNothing, Facebook Marketplace). The customer base consists of people with disabilities, senior adults, caregivers, and immigrant communities across the East Bay and broader Bay Area, with no proprietary technology underpinning operations.

Name

ReCares Network

Legal name

The ReCARES Network

Website

https://recares.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ReCares Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1996 that collects donated durable medical equipment and home health care supplies and freely redistributes them to Bay Area residents in need across three sites in Oakland, San Francisco, and Marin County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Equipment Redistribution Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)

SIC

Orthopedic, Prosthetic & Surgical Appliances & Supplies (3842)

akta.pro primary industry

Equipment Installation, Maintenance, Repair & Sanitization Services (HSABAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Consumer E-waste Collection & Take-Back Programs (EUAIAIAA)

Keywords

• Medical equipment redistribution
• Durable medical equipment
• Nonprofit healthcare services
• Medical supply donation
• Community health resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland Mills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donated Medical Equipment and Supplies: Collects gently used durable medical equipment (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, shower chairs, etc.) and home health care supplies (diapers, bed pads, gloves, wipes, etc.) from families, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, then redistributes them freely to individuals in need.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ReCares Network collects gently used durable medical equipment (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, shower chairs) and home health care supplies (adult diapers, bed pads, gloves, wipes) donated by families, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, then freely redistributes these items to Bay Area residents in need. Operations run through three physical collection and distribution sites in Oakland, San Francisco, and Marin County, with a separate Google Forms-based referral system for oversized equipment.

Product overview

ReCares Network operates as a single, unified nonprofit service focused on collecting, sanitizing, and freely redistributing medical equipment and supplies. The core offering is the Medical Equipment Redistribution Service, which runs physical collection and distribution sites across three Bay Area counties. A secondary offering, the Large DME Referral System, handles larger equipment items (hospital beds, lifts, power wheelchairs) via a separate Google Forms-based matching system, as ReCares lacks storage capacity for such items.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Served 8,800 recipients and diverted 28,000 items from landfills in 2023
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Marin MER (Marin Environmental and Recycling)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization managing the Marin County distribution site. Marin MER handles the Marin location operations at 3100 Kerner Blvd, San Rafael, CA, operating Wednesdays 11 AM – 2 PM. Visit www.marinmer.org for details.
• San Francisco Solid Waste Management ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitial supporter that helped launch ReCARES operations in 1996, providing support for environmentally sound solutions for healthcare resource reuse.
• Alameda County Recycling BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly supporter that helped establish ReCARES operations in 1996, supporting the organization's mission of wise reuse of healthcare resources and environmental sustainability.
• Breathe California of the Bay AreaminorOthersLocal nonprofit leader in distributing free CPAP supplies. ReCARES refers CPAP donations and requests to Breathe California since ReCARES has limited space and CPAP supplies are not frequently requested by ReCARES patrons.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Project C.U.R.E. International nonprofit collecting donated medical supplies and equipment and distributing to hospitals and clinics in developing countries. Directly comparable to ReCares as a surplus-medical-equipment redistribution intermediary with similar volunteer- and donor-driven model.
• MedShare: National 501(c)(3) that collects surplus medical supplies and equipment from hospitals and manufacturers and redistributes them to underserved communities globally. Closest functional analogue to ReCares in mission and operating model (donor-driven DME/supplies redistribution) but operates at larger geographic scale.
• Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach: Springfield, IL-based nonprofit that collects surplus medical supplies and equipment from healthcare facilities and ships them to mission hospitals worldwide. Direct peer of ReCares in hospital-surplus recovery and medical-equipment redistribution.
• Global Links: Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that recovers surplus medical supplies and equipment from U.S. hospitals and redirects them to resource-poor communities. Comparable to ReCares for the hospital-surplus-recovery playbook and reuse-driven healthcare access mission.
• American Medical Resource Foundation (AMRF): Nonprofit that refurbishes and redistributes donated medical equipment and supplies domestically and internationally. Directly comparable to ReCares across donation intake, equipment refurbishment, and free-distribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Apria Healthcare: Large national provider of home medical equipment and respiratory therapy products serving insured patients. Broad incumbent addressing durable medical equipment access through a paid, insurance-billed model — the for-profit counterpart to ReCares' free-distribution model.
• Numotion: One of the largest U.S. providers of customized wheelchairs and complex rehabilitation mobility equipment, selling and renting primarily through insurance reimbursement. Broad incumbent operating in the same mobility/DME space as ReCares but as a paid, commercially scaled provider.
• Goodwill Industries International: Large national nonprofit network collecting donated goods (including some home-care goods) and reselling them to fund workforce programs. Broadly comparable to ReCares as a donation-driven reuse organization but at vastly larger scale and across general merchandise rather than medical equipment.

Emerging players

• Buy Nothing Project: Hyperlocal community Facebook-based gift economy for neighbors to give and request used goods free. Functions as a referral partner and discovery channel for ReCares donors and recipients; thematically aligned community-reuse network, though unstructured vs. ReCares' curated medical focus.
• Freecycle Network: Global grassroots gift-economy network for free reuse of goods between local members. Comparable to ReCares' community-reuse mission at a broader (non-medical, non-curated) scale; surfaces alongside BuyNothing as a donor/recipient channel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/recaresoakland
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/recares

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ReCares Network