- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Grant provides new buses to senior centers, People Services
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several grant-funded buses awarded to two local senior centers and People Services are opening up new possibilities and access for members of the community who previously had limited transportation options.
On Monday, Lucerne Alpine Senior Center Executive Director Rae Eby-Carl went to Lake Transit Authority headquarters in Lower Lake to collect the center's new bus, paid for through a grant obtained by Lake Transit.
It's one of seven buses paid for by the $480,000 grant, which Lake Transit applied for in May 2012 and received in December of that year, according to Mark Wall, Lake Transit's general manager.
Four of the buses went to People Services last spring and the Live Oak Senior Center received theirs last September.
Wall said Lake Transit worked with the Lucerne and Live Oak senior centers, and People Services to apply to Caltrans' Division of Mass Transportation for the funding. Caltrans, in turn, had received a Federal Transit Administration grant.
Wall said he was told by Caltrans officials that they had not seen any other group of organizations do a joint application like this one.
The grant process took a few years to work out, with Caltrans needing to sign off on any changes to vehicle usage, Wall said. The Lake Transit Board and the boards of the senior centers and People Services also had to approve memorandums of understanding for use of the buses before they were released.
“It's been pretty bureaucratic, quite frankly,” said Wall.
Wall said one bus is left, and has been offered to the Middletown Senior Center, which so far hasn't accepted it due to maintenance cost concerns, which it would need to fund.
“The LTA Board is very interested in seeing something like that happen, and we think it would be a big help to the Middletown area,” he said.
In the meantime, “We're going to operate it ourselves for nonemergency medical transportation,” which was one of the important features of the grant, Wall said.
People Services, which Wall said had the greatest need for the vehicles, received theirs first. In all, they got four new buses. The senior centers received smaller, seven-passenger buses with wheelchair lifts, he said.
People Services Executive Director Ilene Dumont said her organization was excited to receive the new buses, which had been badly needed as the ones they replaced were very old.
In total, the new buses for People Services cost $64,000 each, for a total of $256,000, said Dumont.
Dumont said the mid-sized buses have a capacity for 12 people if there is no passenger in a wheelchair, or eight with wheelchairs. The buses each have two wheelchair tie-downs.
“It's worked out perfect. It is so wonderful,” said Dumont.
She explained that People Services transports close to 200 people during the week to activities around the county, with many of those clients needing specialized transport service to pick them up every day. When clients are picked up, they're also returned home – no matter where they live in the county.
“People can get out into the community more during the day,” she said, and People Services can transport them in a better, more comfortable fashion, noting that the ride for the wheelchair-bound clients in particular is much improved.
Dumont has a fleet of 44 vehicles and her own maintenance crew. Without People Services running its own transportation services, a majority of its clients would be left indoors, she said.
“Our whole goal is to be out in the community doing things,” Dumont added.
Those activities to help others include assisting with Meals on Wheels deliveries for the senior centers in Clearlake Oaks, Lakeport, Lucerne and Middletown, she said.
When the Live Oak Senior Center received its van last fall, then-Executive Director Pat Grabham – who has since retired – said the center had been using an old van donated by a church for its transportation program, which by that time had been operating for five years.
Eby-Carl said the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center has not had a van before this, and she expects it to open up new opportunities for the center and the seniors its serves.
“Our goal is to get people to where they need to be,” Eby-Carl said, adding. “I think it will be a great deal of fun for folks to be able to come in and have meals at the center.”
She said socialization is important for seniors, and the vans could help move Meals on Wheels clients to become regular center visitors and take part in activities and events.
The Lucerne center currently delivers about 100 Meals on Wheels meals weekdays, Eby-Carl said, and serves 30 to 45 lunches between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday at the center, located at 10th Avenue and on Country Club Drive.
Eby-Carl said she intends to start offering more activities after the daily lunches, in addition to the current nutritional and Tai Chi programs now provided.
Wall said he is very pleased that the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center is getting a vehicle. Noting that he's known Eby-Carl for years, he added, “I know she'll work hard to make this really an asset for her community there.”
He said that reaching out to get people to the Lucerne senior center is “what we need,” as once they're at the center, it's easier to transport seniors elsewhere for errands and activities.
“We actually do a route deviation to the senior centers,” Wall said. “Any time they need us to come by, we do.”
Dumont said receiving the buses also means that the organizations will be able to offer nonemergency medical transportation. “There's a great need out there.”
Said Wall of Lake Transit, “I don't think people realize how much nonemergency medical transportation we do,” including transporting people to dialysis appointments.
The nonemergency medical transport side of things is still being worked out, Wall said, who is collaborating with medical providers around the county to set up the program.
Meanwhile, Eby-Carl – who herself drove the new bus back to her center – said they are looking for volunteer drivers to devote about three to four hours a day to transporting seniors to and from the center.
It just requires a regular driver's license and a clean driving record, she said, and the center will providing the training and insurance.
For more information call Eby-Carl at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, 707-274-8779.
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