“I’ve been surprised at the compassion of this group,” said Carl Crawford, Intercultural Center Coordinator at Lake Superior College.
Every year the volunteer drivers for Arrowhead Transit are required to take a refresher class so they can stay current on proper procedure. This year Crawford has been providing the diversity training for several of these classes.
Where's the story? PointsMentioned Map 3 Points Mentioned
Within the eight counties of the Arrowhead, there are currently 268 Arrowhead Transit active volunteer drivers. These drivers are reimbursed 57.5 cents per mile they drive. “None of these drivers that I have met are doing it just for the money,” said Crawford. “It’s a really compassionate group. All of them are dealing with people who are often at the toughest times in their lives.
“Sometimes it’s hard not to look at people and identify them by their needs. I tell the volunteers, ‘see the human side of your clients.’”
Arrowhead Transit contracts with insurance providers and counties to provide rides for qualifying persons to medical appointments. In addition Arrowhead Transit’s Rural Rides Program provides volunteer drivers to assist persons with work related transportation needs. Each month the volunteers drive almost 250,000 miles. That works out to over 11,000 miles per day (Monday through Friday), which is equivalent to driving back and forth from Los Angeles to New York, twice. Yet there has not been a serious accident caused by one of the volunteer drivers in the millions of miles driven.
Transportation Advocate, Martin Lepak, a one man HR department for these drivers said, “We have a really good group of drivers right now. I mean a really good group! Right now we are not looking for additional drivers, but if anyone is interested, they can contact me by email at martin.lepak@aeoa.org and I’ll get them on our waiting list.
“When I sign on drivers, I look for people who are willing to help people of every background. I look for dependability and adaptability. About 90% of our drivers are retired.”
“In America, we don’t celebrate everything being the same,” said Crawford. “Every person, every culture is different. Some of our communities in the Arrowhead are isolated. One of the drivers told me about a situation where they stopped at a gas station and the client, who was Native American, was not allowed to use the restroom. Another driver stopped at a fast food restaurant with her clients. When their four-yearold went into the play area, the parents of the kids who were in the play area told their kids to get out. It was gut wrenching for them to see this.
“These volunteers get to know people of every background.
I tell them we are all different and we can be okay with that. I tell them we need to allow every person the opportunity to make mistakes. We all do. And we need to give every person a chance to come back from their mistakes.”
The Arrowhead Transit Volunteer Driver Program is part of the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency.
Every year the volunteer drivers for Arrowhead Transit are required to take a refresher class so they can stay current on proper procedure. This year Crawford has been providing the diversity training for several of these classes.
Where's the story? PointsMentioned Map 3 Points Mentioned
Within the eight counties of the Arrowhead, there are currently 268 Arrowhead Transit active volunteer drivers. These drivers are reimbursed 57.5 cents per mile they drive. “None of these drivers that I have met are doing it just for the money,” said Crawford. “It’s a really compassionate group. All of them are dealing with people who are often at the toughest times in their lives.
“Sometimes it’s hard not to look at people and identify them by their needs. I tell the volunteers, ‘see the human side of your clients.’”
Arrowhead Transit contracts with insurance providers and counties to provide rides for qualifying persons to medical appointments. In addition Arrowhead Transit’s Rural Rides Program provides volunteer drivers to assist persons with work related transportation needs. Each month the volunteers drive almost 250,000 miles. That works out to over 11,000 miles per day (Monday through Friday), which is equivalent to driving back and forth from Los Angeles to New York, twice. Yet there has not been a serious accident caused by one of the volunteer drivers in the millions of miles driven.
Transportation Advocate, Martin Lepak, a one man HR department for these drivers said, “We have a really good group of drivers right now. I mean a really good group! Right now we are not looking for additional drivers, but if anyone is interested, they can contact me by email at martin.lepak@aeoa.org and I’ll get them on our waiting list.
“When I sign on drivers, I look for people who are willing to help people of every background. I look for dependability and adaptability. About 90% of our drivers are retired.”
“In America, we don’t celebrate everything being the same,” said Crawford. “Every person, every culture is different. Some of our communities in the Arrowhead are isolated. One of the drivers told me about a situation where they stopped at a gas station and the client, who was Native American, was not allowed to use the restroom. Another driver stopped at a fast food restaurant with her clients. When their four-yearold went into the play area, the parents of the kids who were in the play area told their kids to get out. It was gut wrenching for them to see this.
“These volunteers get to know people of every background.
I tell them we are all different and we can be okay with that. I tell them we need to allow every person the opportunity to make mistakes. We all do. And we need to give every person a chance to come back from their mistakes.”
The Arrowhead Transit Volunteer Driver Program is part of the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency.
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