Wasilla medical lending closet stays open and busy during COVID-19

Here in Alaska, medical equipment can be hard to come by, especially during a pandemic, but one mom in Wasilla has been working to ensure those in need get essential medical supplies.

People often donate clothes or furniture they no longer need to others can use them, so why not donate durable medical equipment? That's the idea behind Austin's Compassion Exchange, or ACE, Lending Closet in Wasilla. It's been extremely busy for the lending closet during the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We've been getting calls, probably 40 a day, and helping about 10 people a day," said Tina Ervin.

Tina Ervin started ACE Lending Closet out of her garage just a few years after her son, Austin, miraculously survived a bad car accident in 2013 when he was just five years old.

Ervin says it can sometimes take months, while waiting on Medicaid, Medicare, or insurance, for patients to get the equipment they need. She says she didn't want others to experience the tough time she had getting essential equipment for her son, which is why she started the lending closet which relies completely on donations from the community.

"If we have it, and you need it, it's yours", said Ervin. "No one has to pay anything, it's free to the community."

Between her garage, two barns and eight Conex boxes, you can find anything from wheelchairs, to scooters and crutches, but you can also find medical items that are in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since COVID-19 made its way to Alaska, ACE Lending Closet has donated several boxes of gloves and masks to local hospitals. She and her son Austin have also created handmade masks and sanitizer to give out.

"The shelves were empty with no wipes, no briefs, so we kept filling orders," said Ervin. "What we would do is we would glove up, spray stuff down, have our mask on, leave it on the porch or outside the garage, and they would come pick it up. There was no contact with anybody."

These are just a few of the ways the Ervins have been helping the community through COVID-19, in addition to delivering durable medical equipment to those in need.

"So we donated like 40 to 60 walkers to Mat-Su Regional and like 20 cases of gloves," said Ervin. "Procare comes in, and they will clean up all the equipment and look it over to make sure it's safe to give to Mat-Su Regional, so it's a community effort."

Ervin is hoping to soon build a warehouse on her property so she can house everything in one place. For more information on ACE lending closet, or to find out how you can help, you can call (907) 232-4848, or visit their

.