RANGELEY – Community Rides, a new transportation service to be offered in the Rangeley Lakes region, is an up-and-coming volunteer driver program intended to meet the needs of local residents, whether that’s getting to a social appointment or getting to the grocery store.
This is the result of a community transportation forum that was held in October of 2020 as an opportunity to assess the needs in the area, according to program coordinator Merrie Woodworth.
“One of the things that came out was a suggestion that we, in greater Franklin county, could use more help with serving the rural populations and people who couldn’t be serviced by Western Maine Transportation bus routes and things like that,” Woodworth said. “One of the focused suggestions out of that forum was to see if we could work on developing a neighborhood rides program.”
The program is being supported by The United Way of the Tri-Valley Area and the Maine Community Foundation, and is partnered with Western Maine Transportation to help with administrative tasks and be a source of information and collaboration. The project model is inspired by the Neighbors Driving Neighbors program out of Mt. Vernon.
Community Rides will primarily serve older adults and offer rides to any destination that is local. There are no qualifications for using this transportation option. Community Rides is currently seeking volunteer drivers to help get this project off the ground. The time commitment per driver is as much as the driver is willing to do.
“It’s completely volunteer. Sometimes it’s kind and caring neighbors who might not realize their neighbor is going to the grocery store at the same time as they are many times,” Woordworth said. “It’s also making connections that will turn into lifelong connections; I’ve heard from the other ride programs that many times rewarding relationships develop because people give rides to the same people or meet people in their communities that they live close to and never knew before… and they’re making a huge difference to people’s ability to live and be happy in their houses.”
Woodworth expressed optimism about finding drivers to get the program up and running. Once those drivers have participated in the orientation process, Community Rides will open for riders.
“Rangeley is a really great, tight community, and I think there are people out there who will be willing to do this and that’s what we’re hoping to find right now,” Woodworth said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can call 207-778-5048 (select option six) or email community@uwtva.org for further information.
