A program that aims to provide transportation to those in need of the assistance launched in Morden last week.
Warm Up and Ride is being offered as a pilot project by the 500 Stephen Community Centre with the support of a $10,000 grant from the Morden Area Foundation.
The initiative will work in partnership with Many Hands Resource Centre and Regional Connections to have those organizations select clients they see as being in need of the program.
“It’s a voucher ticket system for people who are connected with Many Hands and Regional Connections,” explained Jenna Warkentine, executive director of 500 Stephen, noting they have worked closely on this with those agencies as well as the Morden Handivan and Morden Taxi Service. “The staff from those organizations will decide if the person is eligible for a ticket, and then they’ll be able to take taxis within Morden limits for free.”
The tickets will be for one-time use, so an individual would need two to go to the food bank and back home, for example.
The initial program will run for however long is possible until the funding and vouchers run out.
“We’re looking at about 800 tickets to give out during the next few months,” Warkentine estimated.
She senses that there is a significant need for something like this in Morden.
“We feel like we hear a lot of people who need it, so this will give us a good sense of what the actual need is and what the demographic is that needs it the most,” said Warkentine.
“We are asking for a bit of information just to give us a sense of what is the actual need. Do people need it to get to doctor’s appointments, or do they need it for groceries? Are they coming from certain areas of the city … how would they use it?”
She suggested a lot of people might be surprised to know how many people are in need of transportation assistance in the community.
“We assume that in southern Manitoba everybody has a vehicle,” said Warkentine, noting winter is likely an ideal time of year to test it out. “Because we’re working with Regional Connections, we know there’s a lot of newcomers who might not be used to this kind of weather who we see walking everywhere.
“We feel like the organizations we’re working with, they know their participants the best, and they should have the right to determine who they feel need it,” she added. “That being said, we are having a few on hand for anyone who just comes into the centre who might just need it.”
She is uncertain if this could be a step towards establishing a permanent program in the community, but she is hopeful and optimistic.
“Who knows who might step up to help with this? It would be nice if we could at least run this every year as a little project to give back to the community.”
