Group aims to increase non-emergency transport in Calaveras County

By Jason Cowan / The Union Democrat / @jcowan1031

Published Mar 3, 2016

Silver Streak Transport and its parent company, Common Ground Senior Services, provides rides for senior citizens, veterans and others with a disability throughout Calaveras to and from their health and wellness appointments.

They operated for the past year with one van, an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible vehicle that could hold two in wheelchairs or five without. Volunteer drivers regularly used their own cars.

In January alone, Silver Streak provided 78 rides throughout the county. Kerry Keeney, who handles the marketing initiatives with Senior Services, said the number of trips were doable and she does not think they were overstretched, but that could soon change.

A recent push in public outreach for the program — stimulated by Keeney’s arrival with Common Ground Senior Services in January — is expected to increase the need.

Calaveras County had a population of 44,624 as of 2014, 25.1 percent of which were 65 or older, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Keeney added 12 percent of the county are also veterans.

As it stands now, Keeney said she knows of seniors and veterans unable to make their appointments due to challenges in finding transportation. She added missing a scheduled event is unacceptable.

“They need to be making those appointments,” Keeney said.

Within the past six months, Common Ground received a series of grants, at the federal, state and local levels, by which Keeney believes Silver Streak Transport will be able to establish a presence in Calaveras.

In coming months, Common Grounds will use grant money to purchase two passenger buses that can seat nine, and two additional vans for patient transportation.

The grants, however, will only cover the amount to purchase the vehicles, not the operational costs. For the latter, Keeney said they need donations from passengers. But, she added, it is not a requirement.

“All Silver Streak Transportation is based off donations,” Keeney said. “If they would like to donate, they can. If not, they will still get transportation.”

Though the seating issue is said to be addressed in the short term, Keeney said they need many more volunteers for the new vehicles. The transportation service, which provides the same service in Amador, currently has 11 volunteers throughout Calaveras.

“We try not to overburden our volunteers,” Keeney said.

The Silver Streak Transport program is what Keeney calls a “door-through-door service.” She said if someone needs a ride, the service will go to the person’s door, assist them into the vehicle, out of it at the location of the appointment and back.

The service does not honk the horn and wait for the passenger outside a residence, Keeney said.

Silver Streak Transport takes passengers to a number of different locations, both in and out of the county, for a variety of reasons. Keeney said the only trips the transport cannot take are those that involve dialysis patients, because the service does not have the command staff to handle the frequency of trips.