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News, Status and Articles
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In our April 2018 Tasks for Transit Newsletter we feature our latest news and publish some basic statistics. Our second program, the Job Fare Program, 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
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- This month, TFT launched its second program, the TFT Job Fare Program. (Featured Article below)
- TFT attended a two-day Transportation Conference in Worcester in mid-April, run by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. There were many sessions on a wide variety of subjects from Asphalt to Uber.
- The WRTA continues to struggle to absorb yet another funding deficit due to insufficient state funding of all the Massachusetts transit authorities. Lobbying efforts have intensified by the WRTA, the WRTA's union, and riders hoping to get the legislature to add an additional $8 million to the state's budget for regional transit authorities.
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Stats
from the March 2015 launch of Tasks for Transit through April 2018:
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- ·· Number of charities supported annually = 22
- · WRTA single-day bus passes dispensed = 3390
- · Current price for a single-day WRTA bus pass = $4.50
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Featured Article
Tasks For Transit Launches its Second Program, the TFT Job Fare Program
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This month, Tasks for Transit Inc. (TFT) launched its second program, the TFT Job Fare Program. The Job Fare Program is intended to help individuals who are starting a new job and won't see a paycheck until the third week. At the request of one of TFT's partner charities, the new employee will be given a Job Fare Kit. The most important item in a kit will be a WRTA 31-day bus pass, which will allow the new employee to collect at least two paychecks, before having to allocate some of his or her earnings to on-going transportation. There will be other items in the Job Fare Kit that will provide both information and ways to save money. TFT's intent is that as the program proceeds, the content of future Job Fare Kits will increase in value as more things are added to the kit.
Currently, in addition to the bus pass, the kit contains:
- WRTA schedules for the bus routes from the individual's residence, through the WRTA hub and out to the job site.
- A page entitled, "Tips for Bus Riders."
- A list of free health care clinics in the Greater Worcester area.
- A list of many other "free" services in the area.
- A list of food pantries and places to get a meal.
- A voucher for a free haircut courtesy of Rob Roy Academy.
- A flyer on the new Bank On Worcester County program of bank accounts for low income individuals.
- A book, courtesy of YOU Inc. Worcester Community Connections Coalition, that lists all the services, by category, available to economically disadvantaged individuals who qualify.
The TFT Job Fare program will benefit the recipient, especially those who would have walked across Worcester for the first two weeks of the new job. It should be emphasized that Job Fare Kit recipients are individuals with no income or low income. These individuals often run out of money before the end of each month. Sometimes walking is their only alternative, even if it is six miles one way. With a 31-day bus pass, there are no daily limits on the number of trips taken, so the new employee can more easily get to other appointments, thus improving his or her quality of life.
The TFT Job Fare Program also benefits employer because they will be assured that the new employee will more often be on time, rested and ready to work. By benefiting the employers, the Job Fare kit also helps the greater Worcester economy.
Tasks For Transit's first program, the TFT Free Single-day WRTA Bus Pass Program, has been in operation since 2015 and will continue to operate indefinitely. TFT operates in a collaborative fashion through a network of partner charities (currently 22) that dispense free individual single-day WRTA bus passes, one at a time, to those in need. TFT gives each partner charity 10 day passes each month. It will use this same network of 22 partner charities to dispense its Job Fare kits in an "on-demand" basis. Tasks for Transit expect to distribute over 200 Job Fare Kits in 2018.
Through both of its programs, Tasks for Transit expects to dispense over $25,000 worth of bus passes to the economically disadvantaged in greater Worcester in 2018. To see how you can also help, go to
www.tasksfortransit.org
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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)
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Walking Across the City in Winter is a Hardship
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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!
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
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