Transportation is rated "extremely important" to many of the charities TFT serves.
 
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News, Status and Articles
In our March 2018 Tasks for Transit Newsletter we feature our latest news and publish some basic statistics. The Net of Compassion, our newest partner charity, is the subject of our Featured Article this month. The abbreviation TFT is used for Tasks for Transit throughout this newsletter.

Brian Manning, Co-editor
Steve McClure, Co-editor

News
  • TFT's 21st partner charity, Dismas House (housing, ex-convicts’ employment) was added in December. 
  • TFT's 22nd partner charity, Net of Compassion, was added this March (see featured article).
  • We continue to support Hotel Grace as a temporary partner charity. Net of Compassion is one of the three churches contributing to Hotel Grace.
  • We received a mini-grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for $3,000!
  • The WRTA continues to struggle to absorb yet another funding deficit due to insufficient state funding of all the Massachusetts transit authorities. We attended a public rally in front of city hall to support the efforts of many politicians, the WRTA's union, and riders hoping to get the legislature to add an additional $8 million to the state's budget for transit authorities.
Stats from the March 2015 launch of Tasks for Transit through March 2018:    

  • ··       Number of charities supported annually = 22
  • ·        WRTA single-day bus passes dispensed = 3170
  • ·        Current price for a single-day WRTA bus pass = $4.50
Featured Article
N et of Compassion
Hotel Grace is the city's overflow shelter for the homeless during the coldest days of Winter. There are three churches that sponsor and support Hotel Grace: St. John's Catholic Church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester and Net of Compassion, a Pentecostal church. Together they provide beds, and some meals, for 50 people each night (not always the same 50 people). Over 250 different individuals have taken advantage of Hotel Grace's presence during this Winter.

This month, Net of Compassion became TFT's 22nd partner charity. I first encountered this organization one Saturday in 2014. Walking up South Main Street from Clark University toward City Hall, I began to hear music that became louder as I approached Chandler Street. What I saw as I approached seemed like a block party. I soon realized it was Net of Compassion doing what it does every Saturday on the sidewalk next to the Compare Supermarket, giving out free meals, clothing, shelter and recovery support to as many as 300 needy individuals each week.

The Net of Compassion is the brain-child of an ex-drug addict and felon named Ritchie Gonzales. Ritchie Gonzales grew up in the Worcester South Main Street neighborhood. During and after his prison time Gonzales worked to turn his life around, a full 180-degree turnabout! After his release from prison he, and his wife, Elizabeth, became ordained Christian ministers. Together they decided to establish a faith-based nonprofit organization directed toward helping the truly needy of Worcester. They named this organization The Net of Compassion, and began its activity in 2010. They continue the work of this charity each Saturday and each week of the year. TFT is glad to be able to add the Net of Compassion as one of its Partner Charities.

TFT Partner Charities
What is a Partner Charity?

TFT's Partner Charities distribute the WRTA individual bus day-passes. Since TFT's mission is to assist the economically disadvantaged, TFT chooses partners which service this population on a daily basis. Partner Charities have the understanding and experience necessary to recognize a person and situation that justifies dispensing a free single-day bus-pass. These Partner Charities are typically 501(c)(3) organizations, not able to provide transportation to their clients. TFT enables them to do that for their most needy clients.

The Twenty-Two Current TFT Partner Charities are:

  • ·        South Worcester Neighborhood Center (wide variety of services to poor)
  • ·        Standup for Kids (homeless youth)
  • ·        Safe Homes (LGBT youth)
  • ·        Parent/Professional Advocacy League (youth mental health)
  • ·        Straight Ahead Ministries (felons coming out of prisons)
  • ·        Clemente Courses in the Humanities (free college-level courses)
  • ·        Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Worcester (families in crisis)
  • ·        Hope Coalition (troubled youth)
  • ·        Woodland Academy (homeless families)
  • ·        YWCA Domestic Violence Services (abused families in crisis)
  • ·        Worcester Homeless Shelter at SMOC (the primary Worcester shelter for homeless adults)
  • ·        Eliot Community Human Services (mental health services)
  • ·        Friendly House (neighborhood center, homeless shelters)
  • ·        Veterans Inc. (homeless shelters for veterans and associated services)
  • ·        Visitation House (adult homeless pregnant women)
  • ·        Planned Parenthood (women’s medical care)
  • ·        Multicultural Wellness Center (mental and behavioral health counseling)
  • ·        LUK Inc. Crisis Center (homeless youth)
  • ·        Genesis Club (job training, employment counseling, inexpensive meals)
  • ·        Central Mass Housing Alliance (vocational training, employment counseling)
  • ·        Dismas House (housing and employment for ex-convicts)
  • ·        Net of Compassion (food, clothing, shelter & recovery support for the economically disadvantaged)
Walking Across the City in Winter is a Hardship
Donations
Walking in snow mother and child
We Need Your Support!
We see Tasks for Transit as a fundamental charity trying to meet one essential need of the economically disadvantaged: safe and dependable transportation for persons who would otherwise have to walk or not be able to go to appointments, job interviews, or even grocery shopping. While walking is sometimes an alternative, it is a burden for the handicapped, daunting for everyone in foul weather and an unsafe alternative at night. 

You can help us meet this need! We have ambitiously quadrupled our budget for calendar 2018 to $31,000.
We need all the help we can get! Think of it this way. A $600 donation will support one of the TFT partner charities for one year. A $50 donation will support one TFT partner charity for one month. 

We continue to be an all-volunteer organization with no employee costs and no office costs! Operational costs are minimal. You can be confident that almost all of your donation will go directly to purchase WRTA bus passes!

To support our efforts with an online donation, you may go to our Crowd Funding page on youcaring.com, or the PayPal link on our website.

If you are a frequent shopper on Amazon.com, please consider using the Amazon Smile link on the home page of our website, or the following URL: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-3591569
 
Please support the organizations that have made donations to Tasks for Transit. You can find a list of them under the "sponsor" tab on our website. 

Sincerely,
Brian Manning and Steve McClure
Tasks for Transit
379 Greenwood Street, Suite 4
Millbury, MA 01527
617-851-0313
  We also have a Post Office Box
Tasks for Transit
PO Box 70544
Worcester, MA  01607

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Contact | Tasks for Transit | 617-851-0313 | | contact @tasksfortransit org |www.tasksfortransit.org