Dr. Margaret Thompson and Lynette Mathias at the Rides for Ridgefield office in town hall. —Macklin Reid photo
Ridgefield’s wooded waysides and landscaped lots can function as a lovely leafy prison for people who don’t drive. Rides for Ridgefield is trying to free them.
“I don’t think there’s enough rides for elderly people in Ridgefield,” said volunteer Lynette Mathias. “They can’t drive themselves to the store, to the doctor, or the hairdresser.”
Ms. Mathias was on a two-hour shift, answering the phone in the Rides for Ridgefield Rides office in town hall.
“We’re getting a couple of calls almost every day,” said Dr. Margaret Thompson, a medical sociologist who helped organize the service.
The opening this month of what is officially being called the Rides for Ridgefield Mobility Management Center is part of an effort to support the quality of life for senior citizens and “mobility challenged” people in Ridgefield — whether they’ve got a permanent disability or are recovering from some accident.
Monday through Friday, between 10 and 2, people may call the Rides for Ridgefield number — 203-894-7433 or 203-894-RIDE — or e-mail RidesForRidgefield@RidgefieldCT.org for help with transportation problems.
They can expect three things:
- Information on transportation available to Ridgefield seniors and people with mobility disabilities;
- Counseling on transportation needs and the available options;
- If needed, assistance making reservations for rides.
“At this point we’re an information center,” Dr. Thompson said. “We’re providing information about the transportation that’s available currently to seniors and folks with mobility disabilities — who can’t drive.”
When people call, the volunteer will ask them for their name, contact information, and any limitations they may have getting in and out of a vehicle, or equipment they may bring such as a wheelchair or crutches.
Callers should also be prepared to tell the volunteer: the destination they need to go to; the purpose of the appointment; pick-up or appointment time; estimated length of the visit; desired return time.
The hope is that later this year Rides for Ridgefield will have a corps of volunteer drivers who can be called upon to fill in and take care of needs that aren’t served by the hodge-podge of providers currently available.
“We know there are gaps in what we currently provide. There’s not a lot, but there are gaps,” Dr. Thompson said.
“So in the future, by the end of the year if we can manage it, we’ll set up our volunteer driver program.”
Rides for Ridgefield is a non-profit organization, created to ensure that Ridgefield seniors and people in town with “mobility disabilities” can find “transportation that is affordable, acceptable to the rider, adaptable to rider needs, and allows access to all the activities and services that are needed to maintain quality of life.”
Even before Rides for Ridgefield get its volunteer drivers operation going, there’s a considerable array of groups currently offering rides that can be recommended to callers.
Volunteers taking phone calls at Rides for Ridgefield are provided with sheets that have a grid listing 11 different providers that offer rides — nine of them for free — along with the days and hours each group’s rides are available, if there’s a fee charged, and various limitations on their service.
The American Cancer Society offers rides for free, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for cancer patients going to cancer treatment.
The Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association offers rides without charge, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but only to RVNA clients and for medical purposes.
Of the 11 services listed on the grid, five provide rides only for medical appointments of one sort or another.
Rides to worship services for “congregation members” are available through the “interfaith community,” according to the grid.
A couple of private for-profit services are listed without any limitations — not even hours. But they charge for services.
More services are available than people may know about, Dr. Thompson said, and that’s the value of Rides for Ridgefield’s call-in office.
“There’s FISH. There’s the American Cancer Society, they have a ‘Road To Recovery’ program. The RVNA’s ‘Friendly Driver,’ ” Dr. Thompson said. “Ridgefield Social Services has a ‘Friendly Shopper program. Almost all of our religious institutions have some kind of a driver volunteer program. And some of the community groups, as well.”
With Rides for Ridgefield, people can dial one number, learn all that’s available, and figure which service best suits their needs.
Most of the groups offering rides require advanced reservations — they don’t have people sitting around waiting for calls like a taxi company.
If an elderly or disabled caller is having some difficulty calling to make reservations, the Rides for Ridgefield phone volunteer will try to help out.
“The providers are still scheduling their own drivers and rides and all of that, but we would help people who need to make a reservation,” Dr. Thompson said.
“Say there were three or four choices of providers and someone was not able to make all those calls, we would help them with that,” she said.
“If people are having difficulty making their own reservations, we would help them.”
As an idea, Rides for Ridgefield dates back to late 2011 when Eloise Barron, director of community health and wellness at the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, brought volunteers together to discuss opportunities to serve.
Among the needs they identified was transportation, particularly for seniors and people, of all ages, who have disabilities or are “mobility challenged” for some reason.
Dr. Thompson, with her medical sociologist’s background, and Founders Hall Director Grace Weber, began working with Ms. Barron and organized task force and a working group of citizens interested in the issue.
The opening of the Rides for Ridgefield office earlier this month is the result of their work.