www.3ders.org

May 24, 2015 | By Alec

While 3D printing technology has already spurred on numerous humanitarian and charitable efforts, few of those have been as impressive as the work of e-NABLE. For those few of you who’ve never heard of them, this gigantic collaborative effort has paved the way in terms of cheap 3D printed prosthetics with mechanical grips, and the thousands of people working with e-NABLE have helped improve the lives of so many children, veterans and other people throughout the world already.

3D printing is, in short, perfect for helping complete strangers and for saving thousands of dollars in prosthetic expenses. Therefore Michael Repajic, a pre-med student at the University of Southern California has decided to bring that potential a group of people that can be found in every country on the world, while they are consistently marginalized and left to wallow in their misery and addictions: the homeless.

Many homeless people lack the funds for any type of medical care – let alone for prosthetics – while many have lost limbs. Repajic has therefore started a wonderful initiative called Humanus Hands United, which will become a non-profit organization specializing in developing 3D printed hands for the homeless. Starting with the homeless community in Los Angeles, he hopes to eventually expand it to other cities and even toward children from poor families and developing countries. ‘I was part of a project at the end of last year where we printed hands for children in Haiti and it was truly a rewarding experience to see the kids receive their prosthetics,’ Michael explained.

‘I am already in contact with a gentleman that lives at the Midnight Mission, a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, and he is the first candidate for the prosthetic. I'm in need of assistance in order to get his hand printed as I'll need access to 3D printers/materials,’ Michael says. The plan is to produce modified versions of the hands commonly used by e-NABLE made in ABS plastic, though funds for such an ambitious project are understandably difficult to come by.

Michael is therefore calling out to humanitarian 3D printers and making labs willing to collaborate on this fantastic project. While the first hands are pure charity, he hopes to be able to help a few people who can act as ‘poster homeless’ for a crowdfunding campaign to get this promising organization going. ‘Once the first two or three hands are printed, my colleagues and I are going to make a Kickstarter video in order to promote our cause and gain support from more companies with the potential of fundraising.’

If you’re interested in getting on board with this fantastic initiative and use your 3D printer to help people who really need it, contact Michael via email: michaelrepajic@gmail.com.

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

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