Cindy was humbled by this award but acknowledges that it speaks to the value of the Hyde Shuttles.  Many local seniors and people with disabilities rely on this safe and reliable transportation service for needed socialization, errands, and life sustaining/enriching activities.   The Washington State Association of Senior Centers appreciates the profound impact the Hyde Shuttles have had in communities throughout King County. 
You have the opportunity to be a part of this award-winning program!  Caring and reliable volunteers are urgently needed to drive agency vans in Burien and Des Moines/Normandy Park.  We offer flexible hours and free training in defensive driving and passenger assistance.  You do not need a special driver’s license.   Spread the word!  Help us ensure that our valuable program can continue to meet the transportation needs of seniors and disabled folks in these communities.  Contact Hilary at hilaryc@seniorservices.org to find out more or get started.   No surprises here—Hyde Shuttles volunteer drivers make a world of difference!!

It's never easy to turn in one's keys.

Without a doubt, losing the ability to drive is an incredibly difficult process.  The National Caregivers Library explains that the majority of older adults experience emotional, mobility, monetary, psychological, and social loss as they make the transition from a driving to non-driving lifestyle.  The Caregivers Library also reports that age-related changes associated with driving often occur in a predictable sequence over a number of years and cause a gradual narrowing the individual’s social world. This progression includes the following steps:

1. Physical and mental changes
2. Age-related functional declines or skill loss lead to less driving
3. Less driving leads to less overall mobility
4. Less overall mobility leads to increased isolation and other quality of life changes

Furthermore, as these changes take place, seniors often feel guilty about asking friends and family for transportation.  They dislike feeling like a “burden” as they concurrently struggle with their decreased independence and socialization.

We understand that our program is not the be-all/end-all solution to the challenges faced by seniors adjusting to their new limitations.  However, our volunteers offer support and empathy to older adults who’ve found themselves in this frustrating situation. 

Hyde Shuttle and Volunteer Transportation client Shelby D. submitted a note that explains how the programs have impacted her life: “…I truly appreciate your efforts to make the lives of seniors a little less stressful…You provide a much needed services for those of us who have an impairment of some sort that limits our ability to accomplish something as important as medical care. I compliment your drivers on being some of the nicest and kindest people I have met in many years. They are reliable, cheerful, and, most of all, patient. The drivers and office staff go out of their way to make my life a little more pleasant.”

Shelby and other clients will never have all of their problems solved through our transportation programs alone.  Yet, in the context of so many difficult transitions and adjustments, we are happy to improve the safety and independence of non-driving King County seniors-- as well as make their lives just a “little more pleasant.”

There are many extraordinary individuals involved in the Volunteer Transportation program, and this story began as an attempt to profile two such commendable people: Bill Goodfellow (volunteer driver) and Sophie Friedman (frequent client).  However, it soon became clear that the most meaningful and significant messages would not be found in separate articles detailing their unique personal histories or contributions to the world at large.  Rather, the true inspirational lessons can be learned when Bill and Sophie are together.  After all, our drivers and clients do not exist in isolation; the value of our program comes from the interactions that take place between them.  Bill and Sophie are incredible people each worthy of recognition in his/her own right, but there is great poignancy in their time alongside one another.  Their special connection illustrates the compelling power of driver-client pairs.

Bill gently escorts Sophie to the door.

Bill is well-known around the Volunteer Transportation office because of his immaculate mileage sheets.  His clear printing and precision undoubtedly stem from his years as an architect, and his systematic way of thinking also translates to the way in which he carefully calculates the pick-up time for each of the 3-4 rides he takes on per week.  He has even created his own complex form that he uses to compute ride times/distances and record information about clients.  He explains, “It’s complicated in a way that I understand complications.”

Bill describes Sophie as “96 going on 60… or maybe even 16!”  She has an adventurous spirit and proclaims, “I love things I’ve never tried before!”   Her lifelong commitment to exploring new frontiers is apparent in the tales she tells about taking her three sons camping every summer for two weeks at a time (while her husband stayed at home) or taking her first nausea-inducing flight from New Jersey to Boston (with a stop in Hartford for refueling) on a propeller plane in 1935.  It must also be noted that Sophie made arrangements for this interview through email.  At 96-years-old, Sophie fully embraces new technology.

Sophie and Bill share a lot in common.  They both enjoy classical music; they both have a grandson named Gus; and they both appreciate good food and social occasions.  But perhaps their most unmistakable similarity is that they both have amazing stories.  When they are together, stories abound.   The time that Bill has spent driving Sophie to numerous medical appointments has allowed them to get to know one another so well that they can prompt each other to talk about their lives (“Tell her about your wife’s orchids”), and they can even finish each other’s stories.  The afternoon passes quickly as they talk about wide-ranging personal and historic topics, and they are surprised to discover that several hours have already passed.   Bill must quickly rush off as he discovers that he will be late to another commitment.

Sophie moved to Seattle from New Jersey (via Florida) two years ago, and she says, “Bill is the best thing that has happened to me in Seattle.”  Bill and his wife, Dee, have been a great source of support for Sophie, and it is evident that Bill is always looking out for her with a watchful and protective eye.  Bill and Sophie are certainly a dynamic duo, and much can be learned from this driver/client partnership filled with mutual respect and admiration.

• Reach out and drive someone.
• The road will never be the same again.
• Sheer driving pleasure.
• The ultimate driving experience.
• We’ll put you in the driver’s seat.
• ‘Driven’ with compassion.
• The drive of your life.
• We are driving excitement. 
• Drive Your Dreams.
• Driving is believing.
• Drive up.  Dream up.
• Drivers and passengers will never be the same.
• You have a ‘license’ to make a difference.
• Keep our wheels spinning.
• Imagine the stories you’ll hear.
• Imagine the places you’ll go.
• Our volunteers accumulate "miles and miles" of positive impact.
• Help us leave no senior behind.
• Let’s get seniors out and about.
• Take a turn in the right direction—become a volunteer driver today.
• Rides change lives.
• Let the journey begin.

Do you have any good ideas?  If so, please email them to me at hilaryc@seniorservices.org.  To end with a tagline, let’s “drive the distance” to ensure that more caring volunteer drivers are making a difference in the lives of King County seniors!

Calvin Wang is a standout, multi-faceted volunteer.

Calvin Wang has been a Volunteer Transportation driver since January 2009, and he never heads out for a ride without a Sudoku book in his front pocket.  Calvin loves the challenge of this 9 x 9 number puzzle, and he finds it to be a great way to pass the time as he waits for VT clients in doctor’s offices, dental clinics, or hospitals.  He explains, “It teaches you how to use your thinking cap.  It’s all about logic.”


 

Calvin is humble about the impact he has had as a volunteer driver.  He says, “I just do whatever I can to help out.”  He is empathetic and caring as he works with older adults, yet he uses his active mind and critical eye in his volunteer work as well.  Calvin enjoys working with the numbers, lines, and grids that fill the pages of his Sudoku books, but his interactions with Volunteer Transportation clients provide for a more dynamic, personable, meaningful, and memorable way to channel his well-tuned thinking cap.

Laurabelle will be 98-years-old this October.  She walks without a cane or walker and lives in a condo in downtown Bellevue.   She said her doctor would not be surprised if she made it past 100 years old!  She says it has been an interesting life.  Her relatives came to the United States before we started keeping immigration records and fought in both the American Revolution and the Civil War.  Laurabelle moved here in 1945 because her husband grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and after WWII wanted to finish his education at the UW.  Laurabelle worked for the telephone company for 42 years.  Back then it was called Pacific Tel and Tel; it is now Century Link.

Her husband passed in 1994, and Laurabelle has been on her own ever since.  Like many other older adults, she takes pleasure in living independently and not burdening family members for transportation.  She loves to play bridge and until recently lunched with all of her old friends from the telephone company.  She drove herself up until a few years ago, but decided it was time to give it up when she lost her depth perception in one eye.  A long time friend and former volunteer driver told her about Senior Services’ Volunteer Transportation Program. 

We have now been assisting Laurabelle to her medical appointments for the last three years and she says, “This program has saved my life.” Laurabelle credits her ability to stay in her own home to Volunteer Transportation.  “If it was not for this program and seeing my doctors, I would probably be in a retirement center.  I could not survive in my own home without these volunteers.”  She says she will continue to utilize our program even after she turns 100.