TFT has recently added four more partner charities, which brings the total to six.  These are the organizations The greater Worcester area to whom we give WRTA bus day passes at no cost. Each organizations then dispense the passes to their clients as the need arises.  The new partners are:

• The Safe Home Program of The Bridge of Central Massachusetts - Safe Home is a program of services for LGBT youth.
• Parents/Professional Advocacy League - PPAL is the family voice for children's mental health in Massachusetts and .offers instructional programs and other services to parents and youths.
• The Worcester office of Clemente Course in the Humanities - They  offer, at no cost, a set of eleven classes on a range of Humanities topics,  taught at the college level by Worceseter area professors, to help their clients advance toward a potential college education and become better educated members of society.
• Interfaith Hospitality Network....IHN has a network of over two dozen local religious organizations that work in teams to support four or five families at a time with housing, meals and other needs until they reach a point of self-sufficiency.

The two organizations that have already been dispensing TFT-provided day passes are:

• South Worcester Neighborhood Center- One of Worcester's long-time neighborhood centers, offering a wide variety y of services to residents of the South Worcester area.
• Standup for Kids:- They provide counseling and associated services for homeless youth.

TFT's fall fundraiser brought in over $2,000.  This will be a major enabler for our operations during 1Q16 and has made a large impact on our annual fundraising goal of $9,000.  TFT is an all-volunteer organization: it doesn’t pay its employees or pay for its office space. That means that donation go directly towards expanding the number of day passes we supply.

Malcolm Parkinson has joined the TFT Board of Directors.  Malcolm, a professor emeritus at Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he taught for many years, has board experience on the Higgins Museum board and is currently on the board of Briarwood, an assisted living community on the north side of Worcester.   

Mike Peckar has also joined the TFT Board of Directors.  Mike is currently chairman of the board of Jericho Road, another Worcester nonprofit corporation that provides services to the local nonprofit community.

If you know of anyone interested in public transportation for the economically disadvantage that might consider joining the TFT Board of Directors, please contact us.

From March 2015 to January 2016

Partners charities supported  :6

WRTA day passes dispensed 170
 

From now until April 18, 2016, Tasks for Transit will be running an indoor fundraiser called Trek for Transit at Clark University.  Only Clark students can participate.  

Why is Transportation Important?

For the large majority of charities (non-profits) in the greater Worcester area, transportation is not a first priority.  However, transportation is usually "extremely important" to the fulfillment of each charity’s mission.  When we focus our discussion on the economically disadvantaged clients of these charities, a contradiction is exposed; sort of a "Catch 22."  The client needs the service of the charity, but the client can't afford to get to the charity to receive the service. 

Walking is an alternative, and some clients do walk across the city. But it is not always a good alternative, especially in bad weather (remember the winter of 2015?) or at night when safety issues enter the equation.

Another solution is to provide free bus fare to clients.  Some charities already do this, but a large majority cannot afford to. Some Worcester charities are savvy enough to put an allowance for this expense into their grant applications, but most don't.  By providing sets of WRTA One Day Passes to a charity, Tasks for Transit enables the charity to better fulfill its mission, especially as it applies to the economically disadvantaged.  From another perspective, Tasks for Transit's free One Day Passes will significantly improve the ROI of the funding donations made by a person or organization to the charity serving the economically disadvantaged. That means more clients’ lives are improved, e.g., unemployed clients are able to get to job interviews and get jobs. As a result, unemployment decreases, WRTA ridership increases (because now clients can afford to take the bus to work), and welfare costs go down.  Tasks for Transit provides the missing transportation key for an under served population, and as a result of this small measure of a One Day Pass, many clients see improvements in their quality of life.

Supporting Data

Tasks for Transit has been trying to analyze this issue and assemble some data to verify the need. The question has been asked, "Isn't Tasks for Transit just substituting its service (free WRTA fare dispensing) for a service already being performed by the city's charities.  The data we obtained shows that this is not the case.  A large majority (68% to 78%) of charities don't provide transportation services to their clients.  And the charities that have taken our survey believe there is a need and it is "extremely important" to the fulfillment of their missions.

S upport & Parent Educational Groups in Worcester, MA report , published by Worcester Community Connections Coalition lists 83 programs run by 40 organizations.  Nine of those organizations provide transportation to their clients, whether or not they are economically disadvantaged.  The other 31 (78%) do not provide transportation.

After School Programs Resource Listing for Worcester, MA, published by Worcester Community Connections Coalition lists 63 programs offered by 41 agencies.  13 of those agencies provide transportation.  The other 28 (68%) do not provide transportation.

In an on-line survey posted by Tasks for Transit, 86% rated transportation "extremely important" to the fulfillment of their organization's mission. The other 16% rated it "very important." The respondents were representatives of Worcester area charities.  Their comments can be seen below.

Comments by Charity Representatives.
From on-line Survey on Transportation, hosted by Compelling Perspectives, LLC

Lydia Proulx, Parent/Professional Advocacy League

• We support youth and families in Worcester that are often disadvantaged; Particularly single parents with young children with special needs, or youth and young adults, who cannot access services and supports due to a lack of transportation (don't own their own car, are homeless or at risk for homelessness, they can't get to our groups because of weather or distance, or get to school, doctor's appointments, etc.) If our families and youth members were able to get to our support groups, as well as their clinical visits and school meetings, it would decrease their stress and increase their ability to cope with the challenges that come ongoing with significant mental health and behavioral health challenges.

Danny Diaz,    The Salvation Army- Bridging the Gap program

• The Bridging the Gap program serves at risk youth within the inner city of Worcester. We serve clients that most of the time would like to attend to the program but parents are either working or do not have any means of transportation. We have youth who walk far distances to arrive and attend the program, providing them with the means of transportation would make parents feel a little more at ease. Obtaining this resource would definitely facilitate the way we serve our youth.
  

Elizabeth Bacon, The Clemente Course in the Humanities in Worcester

•  The Clemente Course in the Humanities could not operate without offering day passes and child care to our students. Right now, we must raise the funds which will cost about $2500 a year. It would help us tremendously if that could be provided through your efforts. Thank you so much for reaching out.
  

Joanne Alley, Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Worcester

• This would be a huge help to our organization, as it is a service that IHN and our families are in need of, but cannot afford. Bus passes would provide a way for families to get to job interviews, doctor appointments, counseling, school functions and so much more.

Sources

• Support & Parent Educational Groups in Worcester, MA, published by Worcester Community Connections Coalition
  
• After School Programs Resource Listing for Worcester, MA, published by Worcester Community Connections Coalition
  
• Online Survey on Transportation, hosted by Compelling Perspectives, LLC
  

What is a  Random Acts of Gratitude?
If a volunteer is registered in the TFT system, and is actively donating time to one of TFT's partner charities, he or she is a candidate for an occasional, randomly selected gift, meant to be a thank you for being a volunteer. 

These gifts are provided, free of charge to TFT for this program.  Here are some of these organizations. TFT would like to acknowledg e.

If your organization would like to donate a gift to be given to one of the volunteers, please contact us at   contact@tasksfortransit.org.  These gifts can take many forms: a pair of tickets for an event or admission to a museum, a retail discount or cash card or a physical item or service..

What is a Partner Charity?

It is TFT's Partner Charities that actually dispense the WRTA bus day passes.  Since TFT is  trying to target the economically disadvantage,, it chooses partners that service this type of client on  a daily basis.  They have the deeper understanding to recognize person and situation that justifies dispensing an individual day pass.  These partners are typically a smaller  501(c)(3)  organization that doesn't have the budget to be providing transportation to its clients.. TFT enables them to do it.

The organizations are or have been TFT partner charities:

• Interfaith Hospitality Network
• The Safe Home Program of The Bridge of Central Massachusetts
• Parents/Professional Advocacy
• The Worcester office of Clemente Course in the Humanities
• South Worcester Neighborhood Center
• Standup for Kids

If your organization would like to become one of TFT's partner charities, please contact us at the  contact@tasksfortransit.org.