Program reimburses rides for seniors

 Driving to the supermarket and the movies may sound like a simple task, but for Lee Cook driving became a burden. 

  A few years ago, Cook developed an eye disease called macular degeneration, which prevented her from driving and reading. The disease got "progressively worse, so I wasn't able to get my driver's licence  in August," said Cook.

 As a result, she had to rely on friends to drive her around Yuma. "My friends would come and help me, but I didn't want to impose on them," she said.

 "I was using Dial-a-Ride but it was so expensive, and YCAT (Yuma County Area Transit public transportation) didn't come out where I am, and so I went shopping once a week."

 This changed when Cook signed up for a Western Arizona Council of Governments (WACOG) program called the Western Rider Assistance Program (WRAP) last December. Now Cook is able to go to church and do her shopping without feeling like she is imposing on friends.

  To sign up for the Rider Assistance Program, call the Aging and Disability Helpline at 1-800-782-1886. For more information, go to www.wacog.com.

  The program provides mileage reimbursements for volunteers who use their own vehicles to provide transportation to area seniors who can't drive, said Alma Clark, manager for volunteer services for WACOG.

 The people who sign up can be driven to medical appointments, religious activities, social service appointments, pharmacy needs and shopping.

 Clark says it's up to program participants to make arrangements with friends, family and other people they know to provide the transportation. It is easier when the senior knows the driver, said Clark. "They feel more comfortable."

  The program pays the senior, who in turn pays the driver for gas expenses. The senior must log the miles on a monthly form, said Clark. At the end of each month, the form is turned in.

 The program started in December after the WACOG and its Area Agency on Aging got feedback from 12 community forums, 626 citizen surveys and 75 provider surveys from Yuma, La Paz and Mohave counties.

 The feedback identified transportation as the No. 1 need of seniors, according to Jill Harrison, director of the Agency on Aging.

 After identifying this problem, Harrison went to a workshop in San Francisco and brought back information to start up the program in Yuma. Clark also went to Casa Grande and learned more about a similar transportation program there.

 To participate in the program, a person must be over 60, cannot have a driver's license and can no longer drive because of a disability.

 The maximum amount that a participant can be reimbursed is $200 a month, which equals about 540 miles.

  WRAP not only allows seniors to get around Yuma County, but also can help prevent illnesses, said Clark.

 "When (seniors are) social they don't get sick or depressed. When they don't have this (program) that's when depression sets in. They are not out doing things."

 Currently, there are 10 participants in the program.

 "I like that we created another program to assist those that have fallen through the cracks. There is nothing else like it in Yuma," said Clark.

 Frank Laguna uses WRAP when he comes back from the senior nutrition center in San Luis. In the mornings he takes the YCAT to San Luis and in the evenings a co-worker brings him home.

 "It works out pretty good for both of us," said Laguna. "She gets her gas money back. (She got) her first check yesterday."

 "I think it is wonderful, myself," said Cook. "If they stop it, I don't know what I'd do because I rely on it so much."

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Jennifer Lovell can be reached at jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6849.