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News, Status and Articles
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In this Tasks for Transit Newsletter, for Novemberr 2017, we feature our latest news, publish some basic statistics and write about a new variation of our business model. We will use the abbreviation TFT for Tasks for Transit throughout this newsletter.
Brian Manning, Co-editor
Steve McClure, Co-editor
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Tasks for Transit is in a growth spurt! For 2017, we planned to more than double the number of bus day passes we distributed in 2017. We are well on our way to do so!
- We are now serving 20 partner charities, on track to increase the number of partner charities to 21 by year's end. We have added at least one new partner charity every month.
- In October we added the Genesis Club (job training, employment counseling, inexpensive meals).
- In November we added the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance. (They coordinate the Continuum of Care meetings, a group meeting aimed at helping the homeless in Central MA.)
- In November a new volunteer, Sonia Paulino, joined us. Sonia is helping us to manage our social media presence.
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From March 2015 to November 2017
Number of charities supported = 20 annually, and one temporarily
WRTA day passes dispensed = 2310
Current price for a single-day WRTA bus pass=$4.50.
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TFT's Partner Charities distribute the WRTA individual bus passes. Since TFT's mission is to assist the economically disadvantaged, TFT chooses partners that service this type of client on a daily basis. Partner Charities have the understanding and experience necessary to recognize a person and his or her situation that justifies dispensing a free individual bus day-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 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)
If your organization would like to become one of TFT's Partner Charities, please take and submit our on-line
survey.
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Featured Article
TFT Special Projects #1
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Up until now, when an organization joins the ranks of TFT's partner charities, that organization is told to expect to receive ten WRTA single-day bus passes from TFT each month going forward. This has been our practice and we have been able to do this so far, even this year as we grew from 9 partner charities to 21. This is also our plan going forward, assuming we can raise the funds to buy the bus passes. We plan to continue to add more partner charities in 2018, one per quarter rather than one per month as we’ve done this year.
This month, TFT began a new variant of its traditional business plan. We have
started one temporary Special Project
that will support Hotel Grace
during the cold Winter months
, when it exists as a temporary homeless shelter during frigid weather. This is New England, not Texas or California! People sleeping outdoors in sub-freezing weather can lead to frost-bite and loss of limbs. (We know this because it happened last Winter.) This is Hotel Grace's second year of temporary operation. We wrote at length about Hotel Grace in our May newsletter, but let us refresh your memory. Last year it started mid-December, although it wasn't expected to be operational until January. (This year's operation started even sooner when the temperature suddenly dropped to very cold levels in
mid- November
.)
This temporary overload shelter, Hotel Grace, is run by an unusual three-church collaboration: Catholic, Pentecostal and Unitarian Universalist. It was the temporary residents named the shelter Hotel Grace. It is located at St. John's Church near Union Station. Meals are provided in addition to beds, warmth and security. The capacity is roughly three dozen adults. Everyone is treated with dignity. The United Way provides money for some of the operational costs, e.g., laundering the linens. All in all, it is a wonderful community effort. Tasks for Transit did not have a direct role in Hotel Grace last Winter, but this year it is our first TFT Special Project.
Until warm weather returns next Sprin
g, Hotel Grace will get ten single-day bus passes from TFT each month.
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We have now met our fundraising goal for this year, thanks to many generous individual and business donors! All we need to do is to double that amount next year!! That effort has already started, with publicity for TFT’s program; renewal requests for funds sent to individuals and grant applications filled and sent out. Please consider this TFT newsletter a direct request for you to help us raise $15,000 to support the TFT 2018 budget.
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Also, we encourage you to support our donor organizations, listed on the sponsors’ page on our
website.
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: safe and dependable transportation for persons who would otherwise have to walk or not go to appointments, 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.
To support our efforts with an online donation, you may go to our Crowd Funding page on
youcaring.com.
We continue to be an all-volunteer organization with no employee costs and no office costs! You can be confident that 99% of your donations will go directly to purchase WRTA bus day-passes.
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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Walking Across the City in Winter is a Hardship
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