.Tasks for Transit is in a growth spurt.  In 2017, we plan to more than double the number of bus day passes we distributed in 2016.  

• We are now serving 13 partner charities, on track to increase the number of partner charities to 21 by year's end by adding one new partner charity every month.
• In March we added Eliot Human Services as a partner charity, specifically the programs that deal with the more difficult homeless cases.
• In April we added Friendly House, a neighborhood center on the east side of Worcester that has a variety of programs, including homeless shelters.
• The WRTA, responding to MA state government budget reductions, has proposed fare increases that will go into effect on July 1, 2017.  Specifically, the bus day passes will increase from $3.50 to $5.00 per day pass.  In July 2018, a year later, the price will rise to $6.00.  We need your donations now more than ever to keep TFT on plan.
• Recently, TFT received three major donations: a $500 donation from Websterfive Foundation; a $300 donation from New Englanders Helping our Veterans Inc. (a 501(c)(3) non-profit); and a $250 donation from Avidia Bank.
• This month, TFT was mentioned for the first time in the Worcester press, namely the "Good Deeds" section of the Telegram & Gazette's Business Matters Sunday insert.

From March 2015 to March 2017

 Number of charities supported = 13

WRTA day passes dispensed = 1270

What is a Partner Charity?

It is TFT's Partner Charities that actually dispense the WRTA individual bus day passes.  Since TFT is  trying to target the economically disadvantaged, TFT chooses partners that service this type of client on  a daily basis.  They have the deeper understanding necessary to recognize a person and his or her situation that justifies dispensing a free individual day pass.  These partners charities are typically  501(c)(3)  organizations that are not able to provide transportation to their clients.. TFT enables them to do that.

The thirteen organizations that are currently TFT partners charity are:

• South Worcester Neighborhood Center
• 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
• 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 shelter for homeless adults)
• Eliot Community Human Services  (mental health services)
• Friendly House (neighborhood center, homeless shelters)

    What we are doing is fundamental.  We hope you feel the same way.  

If your organization would like to become one of TFT's partner charities, please take the following on-line survey.

 http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=b74a7fa5-2cf9-4a22-965a-e7704d341fbf

Eliot Community Human Services.

Eliot Community Human Services was founded in the 1960s with a mission for early childhood education. Its mission was expanded in the 1970s as the provisioning of mental health services in Massachusetts shifted from state-run institutions to private institutions and non-profit organizations like Eliot. Today,  Eliot provides a variety of services, but its primary focus is youth and adults with mental and behavioral health needs.  The specific Eliot programs that TFT supports are for the homeless. One is PATH (Project for Assistance  in Transition from Homelessness).  PATH is a program funded by the Massachusetts state government.

The Eliot team for the PATH program consists of 5 staff members who provide shelter and street outreach services to individuals in 4 homeless shelters across Central Massachusetts, including Worcester.  Part of this is the provision of clinically-based outreach services to the part of the adult homeless population with mental illness and/or co-occurring disorders.  The goal is to improve quality of life by facilitating access to both housing and treatment, as well as other needed resources and services. This is accomplished by promoting stable relationships and supports, stabilizing acute issues (psychological, behavioral and medical) and developing a common language between clinician and homeless person.  The effect is to reinforce ownership and initiative of the homeless person toward his or her rehabilitation goals.

The breadth of the mental health and behavioral health problem in Massachusetts was the cover story for the April 23, 2017 Worcester Telegram & Gazette's Sunday insert, Business Matters.  Susan Spencer was the author.  The article highlights the trend toward opening new mental health centers in central MA, specifically two new centers  with 100 or more beds.  The primary driver of this expansion is Massachusetts's  opiate crisis.  Unfortunately, changes in healthcare insurance have increased coverage of mental health through Medicare and Medicaid, which actually reduces the providers' income: private insurance pays more.  So this expansion of mental health "beds" is not very profitable, but provider institutions are adding capacity anyway.  Worcester's problem is that the expansion of access to mental health services is in Central MA, but not in Worcester proper.  All of this makes life more difficult for the homeless clients of Eliot's PATH program.  TFT is glad that it can help the Eliot PATH team in some small way. From March 2015 to April 2017

 
  More information about Tasks for Transit may be found at our website.
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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, namely safe and dependable transportation for persons who would otherwise have to walk.  While walking is an alternative, it is a burden for the handicapped and it is a poor alternative for everyone in foul weather and an unsafe alternative at night. 

 

We are hoping you will support our efforts with a generous donation.  One way to do that is to go to our Crowd Funding page on youcaring.com.

  TFT Crowd Funding Site
 
We continue to be an all volunteer organization with no employee costs and no office costs.  You can rest assured the 100% of your donation will go directly to purchase day passes.


Sincerely,

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

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