Latest / Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast / How Transportation Supports Health & Wellbeing

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How Transportation Supports Health & Wellbeing · Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast

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Welcome to Healthier Together, Larimer County's
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public health podcast, where we come together
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for healthier lives, connected communities, and
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real conversations. From your local public health
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team, I'm your host, Tom. And I'm Joanna. This
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is your weekly Minnesota, where we'll provide
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a brief update on local public health news. Today,
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we have Jenna Robinson, Executive Director at
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Saint Volunteer Transportation, here to tell
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us more about Saint and those services they provide.
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Jenna, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks
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so much for inviting me. To start, can you tell
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us about SAINT and the work that you do? Yeah,
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so SAINT Volunteer Transportation uses volunteer
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drivers to help folks get around in Fort Collins
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and Loveland. We've been serving the community
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for over 40 years. These rides look like getting
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folks to medical appointments, grocery store,
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hanging out with friends at senior centers. We
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also give rides to individuals with disabilities.
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So those rides generally are for employment or
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getting to school. However, we give plenty of
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rides to individuals with disabilities that are
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grocery stores and coffee shops. So really, the
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purpose of SAINT is just to make sure that everyone
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has access to the community. And that transportation
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isn't a barrier for that. How did Saint get started?
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Yeah, so that was back in the 80s. A couple women,
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which unfortunately have remained nameless. I
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can't find the identities of these people, but
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they're geniuses. They noticed that in their
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neighborhood, folks that had to give up their
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cars were now housebound. And so, you know, they
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started receiving requests. Hey, do you mind
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taking me to the grocery store or whatever? And
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they thought, you know what? way more people
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would be willing to help if they just knew that
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this was an issue. And that's really how Saint
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was born. They started spreading the word. More
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people, of course, wanted to chip in and make
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sure that everyone had access and take it off
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from there. Now, how many rides does Saint provide
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on an average month? Yeah, so we give about 1
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,700 rides a month, and that's between our two
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programs. So we've got Fort Collins and Loveland,
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quite substantial. Who typically uses Saint Services?
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Are there any criteria or can anyone request
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a ride through Saint? So Saint rides are available
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to anyone 16 and over. And there's no hefty registration
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process. It's literally your name, your date
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of birth, your address. So as long as where you
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are and where you're going are within our boundaries,
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then we can give you the... give you the ride.
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If you're younger than 60, so 18 to 59, there
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would need to be a disability that specifically
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prevents you from driving. So there is one added
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step in that process. We do have to have that
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verified that your disability prevents you from
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driving. It doesn't have to be from a medical
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doctor. It can be from a caseworker in your life
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or a health professional in whatever capacity.
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And you mentioned things like doctor's appointments.
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What all do riders use Saint services for? Like
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I mentioned, we have the two programs, Fort Collins
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and Loveland. Loveland ridership looks a bit
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different than Fort Collins. While the program
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is the exact same, we give rides to absolutely
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anyone who's eligible to any place in our boundaries,
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Loveland generally uses Saint more for medical
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appointments. And medical appointments can also
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be the gateway for us, too. They use us for medical
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appointments. Of course, they love the conversation
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they're having in the car with their drivers.
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Drivers are utterly fantastic. And so then, you
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know, they find out, oh, well, can you take me
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to the salon to get my hair done every week?
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Yes. As long as we have availability, we would
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love to do that. And that's really what it comes
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down to. It's not the location or the person
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that takes priority. It's just whether we have
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availability in the schedule. We got a ton of
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drivers over the... fall, winter -ish. And so
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Loveland is ripe for taking on a lot more individuals,
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which is awesome. In Fort Collins, we've got
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lots of what we call subscription rides. So people
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that use us every week to go to the same places
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at the same time. So Pilates classes, I mentioned
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work. We've got a number of people that we take
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to work every week, grocery store, going to the
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bank, of course, medical. So we give quite a
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number of dialysis rides. routine rides, lots
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of variety. We have a number of riders who go
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to visit their family, one who visits her sister,
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another who visits her mom, one woman who goes
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to her daughter's house to babysit the grandkids.
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I mean, really, you name it. We want to help
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folks get there. What makes St. unique compared
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to other transportation supports? These are completely
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free rides that we don't file with insurance.
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We don't charge. Our drivers do not want tips.
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They don't want to handle your money at all.
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Our drivers really are in it for the connections,
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for helping folks get where they need to be,
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not just for the well -being of the individual,
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but truly our community is better when we can
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all participate in it, especially when we're
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looking at a demographic, older individuals or
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individuals with disabilities, the friendships
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that are made in the car, because a lot of these
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drivers and riders share rides together frequently,
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is a really valuable part of it. And then the
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impact of that is increased well -being on both
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sides, right, on the driver and the rider. How
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many volunteers drive for Saints? Yes, I looked
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this up because they usually say, oh, about 100.
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So we currently have 117 drivers. And not all
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of these drivers are routine drivers. So a routine
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driver would be taking a four -hour shift once
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a week. We give rides from 8 a .m. to 4 p .m.,
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Monday through Friday. So a four -hour shift
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would be 8 to 12 or 12 to 4. We do have a handful
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of drivers that do that kind of bridge time of
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10 to 2. And then we have the other volunteer
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opportunity when it comes to driving, which is
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a fill -in. So anytime a routine driver needs
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to go on vacation or has a medical appointment
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of their own and they can't cover their own shift,
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then we reach out to our fill -in drivers. So
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we have some fill -in drivers that drive more
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than a routine driver just because they're picking
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up so many of these. fill in opportunities. And
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then we have like snowbirds and stuff who only
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come in for a certain season, join the routine
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shift just for a handful of months and then leave
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to fly away. So it really is quite a diverse
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range of volunteers, but there are 117 of them.
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And all of those are drivers. We definitely have
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other volunteer opportunities that are currently
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unmet. A social media is a huge one that we would
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love for someone who's interested to. step into,
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but then also just like admins, just regular
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computer work, we would love for help in that
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space as well. You started to talk about how
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transportation can often be a pretty significant
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barrier to accessing everything from healthcare
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to community services to social spaces. How do
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you see transportation play a role in health
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and well -being and community? There's quite
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a bit of research out there that shows that the
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health disparity when we're looking between different
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people groups really comes down to transportation,
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not availability of doctors or even appointment
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times. It's folks actually getting to those appointments.
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So just in the medical space, your actual physical
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health, transportation is a cornerstone of that.
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And then if you translate that to other areas
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of our life, our social well -being, again, The
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party doesn't come to you. You've got to go to
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the party. And so without transportation, that's
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just not going to happen. Our Fort Collins and
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Loveland have paratransit programs, and those
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operate within a certain distance of the bus
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stop. So if you live or can get to a certain
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range within the bus stop, then you have access
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to that paratransit. opportunity are these vouchers
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that you can get through the paratransit program
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but those vouchers again you only get so many
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of them and then when you don't have them that's
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it and so saint kind of fills in that necessary
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gap of either living outside of that zone within
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the bus stop or those who don't have vouchers
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anymore. Many of our riders have quite the toolbox
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of transportation options, which is really necessary.
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None of us who are offering transportation can
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do it all for every single person. And so having
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as many different opportunities and options in
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the community for individuals is really important
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to make sure everyone can stay active as they
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want and need. Is there a particular story of
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social connection that Saint helped foster that
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you'd like to share? There are too many. I was
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keeping them on post -it notes in the office.
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So as individuals would call in, you know, they
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don't realize that they're unloading a huge gem
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to you. They just think they're just telling
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you something fun that just happened. But when
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we hear it on the, you know, in the office, we're
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like, ah, this is exactly why we do the work
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we do. So I handed, they're all paper clipped,
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all my post -it notes and random, you know, emails
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that I printed out that I got from drivers. Again,
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they're just offhandedly, oh yeah, the other
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day, dot, dot, dot. I handed all of those over
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to my daughter so she could put them in a Google
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spreadsheet so I could have them. So I didn't
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have any of them when I was prepping this, but
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I can tell you, we've got a new scheduling software.
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We just started it mid -February, but it's got
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this efficient ride routing feature, which is
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the whole reason we invested in it. And that
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started March 1st. So we've only been doing this
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for about a month. And we've definitely reached
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many road bumps that we've had to slow down and
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assess and pivot. But one of the cool features
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of this efficient routing system. is that it
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enables more than one rider to get in the car
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if they live in a certain area. So we've always
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given rides to, let's say an individual says,
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I'm going to go to the restaurant and my friend
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lives in the same apartment complex as me. And
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so she's going to join me for the same ride.
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Yes. Awesome. Please get in the car together.
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But what this efficient routing. does is it'll
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pick one person up and if there's another ride
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that needs to happen close by, it'll go pick
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up that person and then drop them off wherever
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they need to go, usually in different locations.
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So this is not something that we've been doing
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routinely prior. to this new software. So there's
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the context. So on a number of occasions, we've
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heard riders say that, oh, and I should also
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preface this with riders don't necessarily know
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that another person's going to get in the car
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for that trip. We don't know it in advance. So
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drivers just always say, hey, just so you know,
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we're going to pick up another person. Riders
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have been told if they don't want that, if they'd
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really like the security and confidence of having
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the... a ride alone, they can let us know. Just
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so you know, we try to cover our bases. We had
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one rider call in recently just to say, well,
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I had my first ride with the new system. And
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whenever I hear that, I always kind of like buckle
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in like, oh, this could go either way. And she
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said, oh, no, no, it was fine. And you know,
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actually, there was another rider in the car.
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And again, this could go either way. So, you
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know, double buckle. And she says, oh, and we
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had the best time because, you know, since COVID,
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I just can't get out like I used to. I usually
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only get out for medical appointments. So not
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only did I have the driver to talk to, I had
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a whole nother person and we just chatted the
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entire way. And that really is just so uplifting,
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of course, for her, but also for us who are in
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it. for them, for the drivers and the riders.
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We had a board meeting this past Tuesday. And
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so one of the board members shared that her neighbor
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recently just had a shared ride as well. And
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it turns out that the two individuals who in
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their minds, they were going to be strangers,
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they see each other and they have this same aerobic
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class at the senior center together. So it was
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just an extra time to hang out with friends.
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So just serendipitous, really, really cool connections.
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So yeah, lots to share. Yeah, thanks for sharing.
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If someone is new to Saint and would like to
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request a ride for the first time, how do they
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go about that? Yeah, there's a couple different
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ways. On our website, there's a ride with us
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button and then you can request rides. So it
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takes you to a Google form and you put in your
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request there. I do want to make sure to preface
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that that is just a request. It's not a schedule.
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So when you leave that, you still need to wait
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for the scheduler to call you back to let you
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know that. there is availability and you have
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been scheduled. We don't have a lengthy registration
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process. You don't have to be registered for
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it with us for a certain amount of time before
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you can take rides. Really, right when you know
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about a ride you need and you've never ridden
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with us, you can drop it on the website or the
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other way is to call. And that's the most popular
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way. 970 -223 -8604. If you need a ride in Fort
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Collins, that's extension 1. And if you need
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a ride in Loveland, that's extension 2. Those
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do go straight to a voicemail box, which can
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be frustrating. But because we get so many requests,
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that's really the best use of time for our schedulers
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is to pull them off in the order they received
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them because we are first come, first served.
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We do need at least two days notice. If you have
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routine appointments or appointments that you
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already know about, like medical, far in advance,
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then you can go ahead and schedule those through
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our website or by giving us a call. If you have
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questions about the process, you have a certain
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ride, you're not sure it's in our boundaries,
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or you just want the confidence of knowing that,
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yes, it is. Saint is an option for you, then
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you would dial the number I already said, but
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hit extension five. And that does take you to
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a live person who will really answer the phone.
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That's not a scheduling line. So if you left
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a request, that would still go to our schedulers
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and they would still call you back. But the phone
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or online are two great options. And then for
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anyone who might be interested in volunteering
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to drive, what does that process look like? Yes.
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So to volunteer to drive or to volunteer with
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those other like admin needs or social media,
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or if you have a passion project and you're like,
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maybe Saint would be interested in this, please
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reach out. We probably are. So for those, you
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can leave your request through our website. There's
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a contact us form and a place that says something
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like, you know, interested in volunteering. You
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would click that and then leave your information
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in the box available. We get those daily. Those
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go to our volunteer coordinator, Teresa Holbrook.
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The other way is to give us a call. So it's that
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number, 970 -223 -8604. And then you would dial
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extension 3, and that takes you to our volunteer
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coordinator. You would just let us know what
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your interest is. If you have any questions about
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the opportunity, you could ask them there, although
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the website also has information about it. And
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then Teresa would send you the application. There's
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a place where you say, yes, I'm okay with having
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a criminal background check. So we'd go ahead
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and process that. Once that's completed, then
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Teresa reaches back out again to schedule the
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onboarding initial meeting. And so that's answering
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more questions, explaining how the process goes,
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finding out about the potential volunteers' availability,
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and setting up whatever that would look like,
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whether it's a routine shift or fill -in. And
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then that's usually about an hour, hour and a
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half meeting with Teresa. And then the final
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one is a meeting with me. I mentioned our new
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scheduling software. There's a cool app that's
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associated with this new software that the drivers
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use, which again is we're ironing out the kinks
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on that. It's mixed reviews. So we've been in
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operation for 40 years and we've never had an
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app. So there's definitely a learning curve and
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a comfort to that. But setting up a meeting with
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me so I can go over what the app entails and
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answer questions on that. And then you're road
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ready. Outside of volunteering, are there other
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ways that people can support SAINT? Whether you're
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a volunteer or not, writer or not, the most important
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thing you can do for us is spread the word. Letting
16:20
your doctor know, you know, maybe you... There
16:24
are college students listening right now who
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really don't have very much interaction with
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seniors or individuals with disabilities, but
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they're in the doctor office and the doctor or
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the nurse mentions, you know, yeah, it's tough
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for people to get here sometimes. Throwing out,
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oh, I've heard there's a program called SAINT.
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If they have got availability, we'll help people
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for free. So really spreading the word because
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we exist to help. So if we're not helping folks,
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then we're not living up to our mission. The
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next thing would be donating. So these are completely
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free rides. And as the old adage says, nothing
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is free, which is true in some regards. It is
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true that these are absolutely free for riders.
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It's not true in that, of course, there's gas
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money and insurance and the scheduling software
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isn't free. And all of those things are made
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possible because of folks in our community, um,
17:15
granters in Colorado. We've given generously
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the city of Fort Collins, city of Loveland, the
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County, all of these incredible partners make
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these rides possible. So check out our website,
17:26
see what we're up to reach out to us. Um, we'd
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love to partner in a financial capacity as well.
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Awesome. Jenna, thank you so much for joining
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us today. Yes, this was too quick. Thank you.
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I thoroughly enjoyed it. Do you have a question
17:42
about public health in Larimer County or a topic
17:44
you'd like us to discuss? Let us know. Email
17:48
us at healthiertogetheratlarimer .org. Thanks
17:52
for listening, Larimer County. Until next week,
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stay well, stay connected, and remember, we really
17:58
are healthier together.