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- from Development Director, Susan McIntyre
On September 30, 2025, a grant expired, so in the first week of October, Neighborly had 21 clients on the Medical Transportation wait list. Ten days later, 33 people called in to reserve medical trips between November 6-17. Unfortunately, those dates were already booked. The large whiteboard in dispatch was full of names and numbers.
Clients continued to hope there would be a cancellation so they could keep their appointments.
Seeking to more accurately define the problem of limited or no access to safe and affordable transportation to vital medical appointments for Pinellas County’s at-risk seniors, Susan (Development Director) consulted Neighborly’s Dispatch Office and listened in as a caller shared that she needed a ride the next week for an electrocardiogram. When the dispatcher told the client she would be 8th on the waiting list, the client said she did not want to chance not getting a ride. She declined adding her name to the wait list, as any spot after 3rd or 4th was tenuous at best. The dispatcher told Susan that some seniors fret that their children will have to miss time from work to drive them to appointments. Others hope a neighbor might be available, but they worry about asking neighbors for help too often.
Recently, another client called to request a trip to an appointment that had taken 3 months to schedule. When she was offered a spot on the wait list, she cried in frustration. If she took her chances on the wait list and no one canceled, she would not get the ride. On top of that, the doctor’s office would charge her for being a no-show. She would have to start the appointment scheduling process over.
Then it happened. We were awarded a new grant!
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