Take a ride with Central Community Transit

Watch: Take a ride with Central Community Transit

Pointing at a photograph of CCT's very first board of directors, CCT's Transit Director Tiffany Collins, said that they spent many hours researching the best transportation service for their rural community. And you know what? None of those original board members were experts in transportation systems. What they had were skills and what people need. "They were experts in knowing what seniors needed. They were experts in knowing what children needed. They were experts in knowing what the medical field needed," Collins said.

CCT has two different types of transportation offerings in their three-county service area. There's the bus service and there's the volunteer driver program. Available for people aged 60 and older, the volunteer driver program expands CCT's reach and enhances the overall transportation system in this rural area.

"The volunteer driver program really provides a gap service for the overall transportation system because it is helpful to really get into the nooks and crannies of rural Minnesota," said Collins. "We can go directly to their homes, we can pick them up when they're ... either still living in the farm, they're still living on the lake, they're still living in the small towns, and they need to get to ... resources in the community."

Drivers use their personal vehicles when volunteering and CCT reimburses their mileage. The volunteer driver program gets the majority of its funding from the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging. There's also a fee that riders pay to use the service based on how far they ride, if they stay in-town or need to go further away, and longer rides have a sliding fee scale based on the rider's monthly income. 

Jennifer Seubert is the volunteer driver coordinator, and she gets to know driver preferences. If drivers prefer to stay in-town or are able to commute further away, will they be able to drive during the winter, or are they planning a vacation to Florida? Seubert said that although CCT is headquartered in Willmar, their volunteer drivers are scattered all over CCT service area. She said the drivers based in Willmar who want to stay in town will usually do three or four rides per day. "They'll get all these people to their place where they wanna go and then they get a little business card, the passenger does, with the volunteer driver's cell phone number, so when they're done with their appointment they can call them back."

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Lila and Bob Rekedal have been married for 57 years, and have been volunteer drivers for six.

The Rekedals are both retired; Lila used to work at the West Central Tribune as a business manager and Bob was a painter. "My husband and I are retired, and he needs to be doing something all the time and I said, 'Let's try this out,' get us out of the house, and we can meet new people that you wouldn't ordinarily," said Lila.

After responding to an ad in the paper Bob was reluctant to start, but after being coerced by Lila and the CCT staff, he did his first pick-up and never looked back. "And now I love it," said Bob.

In a blustery, winter day, Lila was headed to pick up a women who wants to shop at Target and Cub. "We'll be taking her first and then they all have my phone number with my card, so when they're ready to be picked up then I go back to pick them up at the door," explained Lila.

The volunteer driver program isn't ideal for people who use wheelchairs — those riders need to use the bus service. However, volunteer drivers are trained in helping people transport walkers and other walking aides. 

Lila prefers to stay in-town, while her husband Bob is partial to the longer held trips. His longest trip was to Mandan, North Dakota. Of course, for reimbursements he keeps a log of all of his rides. As he waits for his rider to finish up at West Central Dental, he flips through the pages containing contact information for all of the people he's given rides to over the years. "This isn't the first book, I already filled up one."

Finally, Bill Hagen, a retired family practice physician, walks out of the dentist's office, supported by his walking cane and Bob drive him back to New London. Hagan, who doesn't drive anymore, had one criticism of the service, he didn't know about it sooner. "I didn't really understand what this is all about until I needed it myself," he said. "It's very, convenient. It's a necessary ,valuable service. It should be supported by everyone, I think because if you live long enough you'll need it — or something like it."

While there are a lot of moving parts for a service like this, working with schedules to get people to appointments on time and scheduling a fleet of mostly retired volunteer drivers, it seems like it's a service that benefits both the driver and the passenger: getting one person to where they need to go and giving another person something meaningful to do.

"My favorite thing of this service is giving back and helping the people," said Volunteer Driver Coordinator Jennifer Seubert. "You hear so many stories of, 'I've been sitting here the whole day, and I just need to get out.' And to help them get out and just to have fun and enjoy life, I mean that's what makes my day, is to get people out and about."

This story was made in partnership with the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging. Compass has been producing stories about people and programs in southwest Minnesota — and throughout the state — designed to help people age with dignity. To watch all of the stories in the series, visit www.pioneer.org/compass/agingwell.