Catholic agency picks up program once run by Red Cross

For more than 20 years, senior citizens in Schenectady County relied on the Red Cross transportation program to ferry them to doctors' appointments, dental cleanings, meal centers, supermarkets, hairdressers and post offices.

In June, however, budgetary concerns required the Red Cross to withdraw its involvement. Now, Catholic Charities is picking up the slack.

As a first step, Catholic Charities is restoring medical transportation to seniors who need critical care treatments, such as chemotherapy and kidney dialysis.

Priorities

"We were told by the Red Cross that they had, regularly, 800 to 1,000 seniors on their rolls. Not all of that was medical. They were taking seniors to visit relatives in nursing homes, to the hairdresser, to the grocery store," said John Steele, executive director of Catholic Charities of Schenectady County. "We're not able to do that. We don't have the resources."

Within a month of Catholic Charities' taking over the program, more than 200 seniors have signed up for the transportation services. As a result, the demand for rides exceeds the number of volunteers available to provide them.

"We are in desperate need of volunteers," Mr. Steele explained. "We're having to reject callers for routine medical matters, and we don't want to turn anyone away."

Thousands of rides

The Red Cross offered in excess of 24,000 trips a year, estimated Vickye Eckert, executive director of the Schenectady County Office for the Aging.

While she hopes that Catholic Charities' program will eventually make more about 20,000 trips per year, she concedes that the number is not realistic at this point.

"We're doing everything we can do to help them through this transition," she said. "This is an extremely important need. Once they get up and running, those services will be provided. But the most critical need right now is to help those patients who are on dialysis or chemotherapy, or in need of other crucial treatments."

Volunteers sought

Catholic Charities is searching for volunteers to help provide rides.

Mr. Steele said that volunteers are primarily those in early retirement who have a few hours on their hands during the week, enjoy driving and feel a "sense of responsibility in terms of helping others -- seniors helping seniors."

Once or twice during the week, a volunteer shuttles a senior to a doctor's appointment or hospital treatment, waits for them, and takes them home.

Mr. Steele estimates that Catholic Charities will need ten volunteer drivers in order to avoid having to secure extra funding to hire paid drivers.

(To volunteer to be a driver for the Catholic Charities transportation program, call 357-9801.)

(8/21/03) [[In-content Ad]]