Service for the elderly and disabled might have to shut down

By Maggie FitzRoy

maggie.fitzroy@jacksonville.com

Charity Raum doesn't know what she will do.

Raum, of Jacksonville Beach, an 82-year-old widow, lives alone on a fixed and limited income, and is in a wheelchair because she had her leg amputated last December.

She depends on a longtime Beaches charity for transportation to doctors' appointments, the grocery store and the drug store.

Now, that charity, Dial-a-Ride, is in danger of shutting down at the end of this month due to lack of operating funds.

The nonprofit service, which currently serves 491 elderly people and people with disabilities, depends solely on donations from individuals, churches, clubs, businesses and other organizations. And, this summer, donations have dropped to an unprecedented low.

"I donated $200 but that's all I could afford," Raum said Monday, after she learned about the situation. Without Dial-a-Ride, "I would be up a creek because that's the only way I have to get anywhere."

Volunteer board member Tracy Deken said, because donations have not been coming in as they have in the past, "we will have to shut down at the end of July. We do not receive any government funding; everything is based on donations from private citizens."

Many people in the community need the service because the Dial-a-Ride bus "is constantly full," Deken said. "But I think people don't think about Dial-a-Ride as much as they used to."

An all-volunteer board operates the service with two paid drivers and a paid dispatcher. People call the service in advance, if they need a ride. There is one bus, which operates Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Mondays on an emergency basis. It serves riders in Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach and parts of Mayport.

The service is free, but riders are asked for a $5 round-trip donation, if they can afford it. Many cannot.

Board treasurer Gail Ennis said operating costs are about $4,000 a month, which includes the phone, maintenance on the bus, gasoline and insurance. The bus recently needed transmission work and two new tires. Last year's budget was about $60,000.

Ennis said she spent much of last weekend crying after she realized "the really desperate situation."

They had to lay off the dispatcher and one of the drivers, and Ennis is paying the remaining driver's salary out of her own pocket through July 31, because she couldn't bear to strand people with no notice. Volunteers are currently serving as dispatchers.

"The donations have dwindled in the last six months, and I don't know why," said Ennis, an 18-year volunteer. "Everyone has cut back, our regular donors have cut back."

The organization holds a Bowl-a-thon fundraiser every year at Beach Bowl, but this year, "it did not produce the income it usually does," she said. "I don't know what people are going to do."

Without reliable transportation, they will be confined to their homes, she said. Many people don't have families in the area who can help, and their friends don't drive any more, either.

That is the case with Charlotte Gagner of Jacksonville Beach, who has depended on the service two or three times a week for many years. She can walk for short distances, but is otherwise in a wheelchair.

Without Dial-a-Ride, Gagner said she might have to use the Beaches Trolley, which has a wheelchair lift, but won't bring her door-to-door. At times, she would have to cross Third Street in her wheelchair, and traffic is so busy "that would be a death sentence," she said.

Ennis urged the Beaches community to come to the aid of Dial-a-Ride. She said the community has been very caring and supportive for years, and she hopes that, when people find out the dire nature of the situation, they will rally to help.

Donations can be mailed to Dial-a-Ride, 281 19th Ave. S., Jacksonville Beach FL 32250. Call the office at (904) 246-1477 or Ennis at (904) 241-3933.

"We cannot let the beach community lose this valuable service," Ennis said. "And it will be gone if we don't get help."

Maggie FitzRoy can be reached at (904) 302-3394.