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Elderly
reclaim independence through new Senior Center van
Not even taking into
consideration the need to obtain necessities like medicine, food and
clothes, seniors just like to get out once in a while to shop or eat a
meal in a restaurant. The staff and board of directors of the Bellows
Falls Area Senior Center understand this, and after watching a string of
bus companies fail to deliver the services they need, they have taken care
of the issue on their own. On Tuesday morning a brand new,
gleaming, white GMC van arrived at the center on Hyde Street. A group of
board members accepted the vehicle, which can transport up to 14 people. The Senior Center has used
public transportation to get around. But even when it was working well,
the center was reliant on the schedule and limited by where the buses
went. The center serves seniors from Bellows Falls, Saxtons River,
Westminster, Grafton, Rockingham, and Walpole. "If we get them to the
center and keep them busy from 9:30 to12:30 then the day isn't quite so
long to them," Pat Noble, executive director of the center, said.
"They like to go to Basketville, or Brattleboro, or Weston. And with
the bus service we just can't do that now." "If we get them to the
center and keep them busy from 9:30 to12:30 then the day isn't quite so
long to them," Pat Noble, executive director of the center, said.
"They like to go to Basketville, or Brattleboro, or Weston. And with
the bus service we just can't do that now." Then, last year, Town and
Village Bus stopped service, and the new company, Deerfield Valley
Transit, has been a little sporadic. And now a new company is slated to
take it on. The seniors decided there had to be another way. Board president Doris Shattuck,
79, remembers when the Senior Center operated out of the YMCA in the early
80s. They used to do their own cooking, and they needed a van to shop. The
center always had transportation -- that's just the way it was, she said. She moved to Florida in the late
80s because she and her husband loved golf, she said. And while they were
away, the board decided to get rid of the van and have public
transportation take over. Her husband died, and Shattuck moved back to the
area last fall to be near her children and grandchildren. "I walked into the
center," she said, "and eight people came right up to me and
said, 'Can you get us a van? We want to go out shopping, and go out to
dinner.' You could see it, they had 'van' in their eyes." Noble looked at the dollar
signs, Shattuck said. "But I looked at the need." The board met with the Vermont
Department of Transportation, and tried to get a free bus. They searched
for other options, and at every meeting Shattuck was relentless. The
center had some money put away from endowments, but they were hesitant to
spend it. "No one lit that fire under
the board until Doris got here," Noble said. "What good is money
in the bank," said Shattuck. "Now we've got a van, and these
people are happy campers." "Flexibility is the
keyword," said Noble. "All I have to do is put up a sign-up
sheet and we are one our way." She is looking forward to eating
out once a month with the seniors, extending shopping trips, and maybe
taking special excursions. Both women are hoping to return part of the
expense back to the center's account, and a fund-raiser is in the works
for the fall. Shattuck said she has stayed up
nights, thinking about the amount of money they spent, but she is
confident it was the right thing to do. Noble said the seniors will
continue to use public transportation when they can. She said many details
need to be worked out, like insurance, a driver, and rules and regulations
governing the new van. But it is here and it is theirs. "It's ours," Shattuck
said. "No one can tell us we can't take these people to Massachusetts
or New Hampshire to shop. These people need an outlet. They need to get
out."
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
