Volunteers needed for ride program that gets seniors and disabled people to appointments while offering social connection

Kathaleene-Marié “Kathy” Krauth, a Marine veteran in Cheney, spent weeks in 2021 calling various agencies in search of ride services to her medical appointments. That’s how she found Neighbors on the Go.

Krauth, 79, relies on a wheelchair and regularly sees a chiropractor, cardiologist and physical therapist – all with separate appointments that she tries to schedule in one day at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center. She said the Neighbors on the Go volunteers get her there on time, plus driver Joe Lachnit will talk to her.

Launched in October 2021, Neighbors on the Go is operated by SNAP, previously called Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners. The volunteers provide rides to medical visits at no cost to disabled residents or to seniors 65 and older who can’t reliably use other transit services. The drivers also can stop at a grocery store or food bank around those medical visits.

Krauth enjoys the regular companionship.

“I don’t qualify for VA transportation,” she said. “I would be lost without SNAP. I depend on them completely.”

The program has about 45 volunteers, but SNAP is starting a campaign to add at least 20 new drivers to meet demand for medical rides, because the agency has had to turn people away.

New volunteers must bring at least five years of driving experience, be 21 or older, have a clean driving record and vehicle insurance, and pass a criminal background check. They can give rides based on their availability, such as once a month or four rides a week.

Most of the rides are offered in the volunteers’ private vehicles, but SNAP uses one Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant van, with a second van expected in service soon, to transport people in wheelchairs.

“Our service is personalized, and generally speaking, we can wait during an appointment,” said Lachnit, who is the Neighbors on the Go manager. He also drives for the program because of the shortage of volunteers.

“If someone has an hour appointment, we’re committed to be there when they get out. That seems to be a big deal particularly to the elderly, knowing someone will be there and they don’t have to worry. But we have more riders than drivers, so we’re having to turn people away.”

Frontier Behavioral Health discontinued its Care Cars, a 30-year volunteer medical driver program, around 2018, said Garrett Havens, SNAP’s resource rides coordinator. It wasn’t long before SNAP was asked to begin a similar service, he said.

The program provides over 500 rides a month in the greater Spokane area, Havens said. Close to 70% of its clients are cancer patients.

“There is some transportation for folks in Idaho, but it’s a very small percentage, and typically we’re serving around 80 to 90 unique individuals per month with the program. Some of our clients will have appointments every week.”

The person being transported is allowed to bring one caregiver if needed, or that’s a requirement for safety if a medical appointment involves anesthesia. Havens said people served often describe difficulties using public transit or paratransit, sometimes because of the time it takes to get to an appointment and back home.

“If it’s someone with a transfusion, that patient might be in the doctor’s office for four hours, then on a bus for two hours,” Havens said.

“We’ve heard a lot of stories about how that’s a long time to be on the bus, and what happens if I have to go to the bathroom or need something to eat?”

Moving here three years ago from Louisiana, Krauth lives in a four-bedroom apartment with other veterans, including her daughter Robin, also disabled.

Krauth will talk to Lachnit about her military days and stories about her husband, William “Bud” Krauth, who was a Marine for 13 years. They were married 49 years until his death.

She spent a military stint at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was among Marines in uniform who – along with hundreds of thousands of civilians – visited the flag-draped coffin of President John F. Kennedy in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

“I like to talk to Joe, and they’re all so friendly; that’s why I love SNAP,” Krauth said. “I want to socialize.”

Lachnit said people getting rides might have few connections outside their homes.

“I feel like we could have a fleet of vehicles and still not cover the need,” Lachnit said. “When I take older people, they look forward to me coming to get them. When you drop them off, they try to force a hug. I do it probably more for the connection than the service. It’s fun.”

Havens said SNAP mainly has spread the word about Neighbors on the Go among primary health providers and clinics. If SNAP recruits more volunteers, the agency will do more to promote the service, he said.