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VolTran has new home, expansion hopes
After two months without a proper address, VolTran has found a home.In December, Fauquier Social Services offered to sponsor the volunteer transportation service by providing office space and a phone line in its Warrenton office.
VolTran emerged from concerns expressed at the Fauquier Senior Care Network’s annual conference on senior citizen issues. The program provides seniors 60 and older, as well as wheelchair-bound and legally blind adults, with transportation to doctors’ appointments and for critical errands, such as grocery shopping, pharmacy pick-ups, and family visits.
The community-funded program was originally sponsored by the Fauquier chapter of the Red Cross. However, only two months after VolTran had settled in, Red Cross employees moved out.
“I went into work and everyone was walking past me carrying boxes,” said ChiChi Smith, VolTran’s coordinator and only employee. “Better pack up,’ they told me.”
Without so much as a day's notice, the Red Cross chapter relocated to Charlottesville, leaving VolTran to fend for itself. However, with the same ingenuity and determination to help seniors that gave rise to the program, Smith and VolTran founder Michael Soule kept the service in operation.
Smith's husband installed a second phone line in their house, so that she could continue her work from home. “ChiChi was running the program out of her pocket book and cell phone until we could find another home,” Soule said. “We’re grateful to Jan Selbo [director of Social Services] and to Social Services for saving our bacon.”
Not only is Smith relieved to have a proper office now, but the relationship between VolTran and Social Services has also been beneficial to VolTran's clients.
“If a driver sees something that will put the senior at risk or something they need, they tell Chi Chi and she refers them to us [social services],” said Mittie Wallace, Social Services' program manager for the disabled and elderly. Social services can help seniors in a variety of areas, including applying for benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid, accessing long-term care, and direct services such as light cleaning and meal preparation.
Reaching beyond the call of duty is nothing new for VolTran. “I may work nine to five,” Smith said. “But I receive calls through the night. Sometimes they just want to talk, or sometimes they need to go to the emergency room and they call me instead.”
“ChiChi has become our social worker,” added Soule.
If a senior goes to the hospital, Smith notifies their driver and usually goes for a visit herself. “It’s important for them to feel that someone is there who understands their condition,” Smith said.
She took care of her own elderly mother for five years, and recalls those seniors without any family telling her mother how blessed she was. For many seniors, Smith and the volunteer drivers are the closest they have to family. “It means having somebody there who they know cares,” Smith said. “A lot of seniors are shut inside and the only way they get out is for us to come.”
Warrenton resident Mary Estes called Smith after reading about VolTran's beginnings in the Times Democrat. Estes' local doctor had referred her to the University of Virginia Hospital to receive treatment for pancreatic cancer. With her two sons living in other states, and the cost of a cab ride unaffordable, Estes had no way to get there.
Smith assigned volunteer driver Virginia Malone. Estes said she and Malone have become very good friends. “She makes sure I have everything I need for the day before we go,” Estes said. “My medicine, my bags, my walker...she even brings me a blanket and pillow.”
Not only does Malone make the long drive to and from UVA, but, as requested, she accompanies Estes into the doctor's. “This has been a life saver,” Estes said. “Without this, I never would have made it.”
According to Smith, the most difficult part of the job is telling some people she can’t help them. Originally, VolTran was serving those 30 and older, but due to an overwhelming demand and limited resources, VolTran has limited the eligible age group to 60 and older. “ChiChi has a heart as big as this county,” Soule said. “So having to turn people away is hard.”
Furthermore, VolTran serves only seniors or disabled adults who can’t be served by the Circuit Rider, a public shuttle limited to a fixed route in Warrenton, or Demand Response, a curb-to-curb county service limited to one bus that runs three days a week. “Sometimes they call us because they like having their own personal chauffeur,” Smith said, “but we have to say no.”
Smith also runs into problems when a senior calls needing an appointment at that moment. “Our volunteers have lives, too,” she said, stressing the importance of calling 48 hours in advance and, ideally, earlier if the destination is far.
Thus far, VolTran has served 75 seniors in the county. But Soule and Smith still see room for improvement. They are working to officially expand VolTran to include other personal services, such as grocery shopping for seniors, and emergency meals delivery to seniors recently released from the hospital.
“A lot of my friends don’t want to bathe when they are home alone, because they're afraid they will fall and there will be no one to call for help,” Soule said. “Just having a volunteer sitting in the living room so there’s someone to call 911, could be a big help.”
In order to expand however, the program needs more donations and more volunteers. “We rely on the community to keep us going,” Soule said.
VolTran will host an orientation for people interested in volunteering on March 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Our Savior Lutheran Church. Lunch will be included.
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