From March 2015 to May 2017

 Number of charities supported = 14

WRTA day passes dispensed = 1410

What is a Partner Charity?

It is TFT's Partner Charities that actually dispense the WRTA individual bus day passes.  Since TFT is  trying to target the economically disadvantaged, TFT chooses partners that service this type of client on  a daily basis.  They have the deeper understanding necessary to recognize a person and his or her situation that justifies dispensing a free individual day pass.  These partners charities are typically  501(c)(3)  organizations that are not able to provide transportation to their clients.. TFT enables them to do that.

The fourteen organizations that are currently TFT partners charity are:

• South Worcester Neighborhood Center
• Standup for Kids (homeless youth)
• Safe Homes (LGBT youth)
• Parent/Professional Advocacy League (youth mental health)
• Straight Ahead Ministries (Felons coming out of prisons)
• Clemente Courses in the Humanities
• Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Worcester (families in crisis)
• Hope Coalition (troubled youth)
• Woodland Academy  (homeless families)
• YWCA Domestic Violence Services (abused families in crisis)
• Worcester Homeless Shelter at SMOC (the primary shelter for homeless adults)
• Eliot Community Human Services  (mental health services)
• Friendly House (neighborhood center, homeless shelters)
• Veterans Inc.(homeless shelters for veterans and associated services)

    What we are doing is fundamental.  We hope you feel the same way.  

If your organization would like to become one of TFT's partner charities, please take the following on-line survey.

 http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=b74a7fa5-2cf9-4a22-965a-e7704d341fbf

In New England, some homeless persons, for whatever reason, continue to live outdoors through the cold winter months, despite the ongoing collaborative efforts of various departments of the city government and local charities to locate, house and serve them.  When the temperature plunges, many of these outdoor homeless persons head for the city's shelters.  This creates a situation where there are not enough beds in the regular shelters to accommodate the sudden peak in demand.  In 2016 the city was working on a plan to handle the overflow with an additional, temporary shelter that would operate when the temperature went below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.  The implementation of the temporary shelter was in progress, with a date of mid-January 2017 for it to become operational.

Then in mid-December, the weather forecasters predicted a sudden and dramatic plunge in temperature well below 20 degrees.  The team working on the temporary shelter had two days to what they had planned to do in next four weeks.  What happen next is a tribute to the ability of Worcester's various communities to respond to a crisis. 

The shelter was to be physically located at St. John's church near Union Station.  St. John's priest is John Madden.  Two other churches stepped forward immediately:  Pastor Richie Gonzalez.s Pentecostal Church, and Pastor Aaron Payson's Unitarian Church. All Saints Episcopal church also participated.  These congregations provided the volunteers to staff the shelter round the clock, seven days a week.  The city government's Human Services Dept.  managed the effort overall and provide coordination with other city departments.  At the request of the City Manager, Ed Augustus, the United Way Executive Director, Tim Garvin, called an emergency meeting of his board of directors two days later and got the approval for an immediate grant of $25,000 for the project.

The night came, the temperature plunged, and the now operational temporary shelter took 37 homeless persons the first night.  A crisis was averted by a city that cares.  The shelter operated for 45 days.  Every day its residents were fed, kept warm, treated like human beings and supported by the many services of charities and government agencies normally available for them.  Sometime after the operation started the residents themselves decided to name the temporary shelter "Hotel Grace."

On Monday evening, May 8th, a meeting was held at city hall to recognized and thank all the participants.  The leaders of the religious organizations provided a panel to explain what had happened.  There even was a video.  These leaders were given the keys to the city by the Mayor.    The meeting itself had been organized by the city's Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Dr. Matilde Castiel and Katherine Calano, the city's Homeless Project Manager who is also a core member of the city's Quality of Life Task Team.  These two women deserve as much credit for making Hotel Grace successful as do the religious leaders. Two hundred fifty people attended that night and there were many standing ovations for a job well done.      

We see Tasks for Transit as a fundamental charity trying to meet one essential need of the economically disadvantaged, namely safe and dependable transportation for persons who would otherwise have to walk.  While walking is an alternative, it is a burden for the handicapped and it is a poor alternative for everyone in foul weather and an unsafe alternative at night. 

We are hoping you will support our efforts with a generous donation.  One way to do that is to go to our Crowd Funding page on youcaring.com.

  TFT Crowd Funding Site
 
We continue to be an all volunteer organization with no employee costs and no office costs.  You can rest assured the 100% of your donation will go directly to purchase day passes.


Sincerely,

Brian Manning and Steve McClure
Tasks for Transit
379 Greenwood Street, Suite 4
Millbury, MA 01527
Email: contact@tasksfortransit.org
617-851-0313
  We also have a Post Office Box
Tasks for Transit
PO Box 70544
Worcester, MA 01607