I learned about ITNAmerica two years ago when I heard the founder speak. Started in Portland, Maine, as a small nonprofit, ITNPortland developed a system for giving rides to seniors who cannot drive. The concept was to make people safer, while increasing the freedom seniors have after giving up the keys to the car. They use volunteers and computer software to schedule rides in a highly efficient and effective manner. In fifteen years the model has spread across the country.
ITNAmerica just announced that its affiliates have given 300,000 rides. The organization claims that "on any given day, 3.6 million seniors do not leave home, in part because they lack safe and reliable transportation." The success isn't cheap. It takes a lot of fund raising to keep it all going.
To learn more visit their site:
http://www.itnamerica.org/
Showing posts with label ITN America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ITN America. Show all posts
ITN Expands Again
I just got this email press release from ITN America. It shows how ITN is expanding to bring transportation services to seniors in more cities across the country. I heard Katherine Freund speak about a year ago and was very impressed with how she developed ITN. It's a good case of social entrepreneurship.
ITNAmerica is very pleased to announce the establishment of ITNRacineCounty. We are especially grateful to Racine County and to the Racine County Economic Development Corporation. ITNAmerica now has a network of 16 affiliates in 12 states.
"We are so happy to be in Wisconsin and to celebrate the birth of our newest affiliate", states Katherine Freund, Founder of ITNAmerica. "We are already ramping up our training and support staff to help them build their new organization."
"Racine County is committed to finding creative ways to improve the quality of life for all its citizens without unnecessary burden on our taxpayers", says Racine County Executive Bill McReynolds. "Bringing ITN here to Racine County will provide a wonderful boost to seniors' quality of life, with safe, reliable, and dignified transportation. We are proud to help foster such an innovative program."
ITNAmerica is the first and only national non-profit transportation system for America's aging population. To learn more, please visit www.itnamerica.org.
Updates on Senior Transportation - ITN
I just got the latest ITN America newsletter via email. I'm going to paste it below.
What strikes me is that any great initiative, such as improving transportation for seniors, comes from one or two driven individuals with great passion. Successful social entrepreneurship comes from people with a mission, and that mission usually comes from a personal experience or need.
Read on....
ITNAmerica E-newsletter
What strikes me is that any great initiative, such as improving transportation for seniors, comes from one or two driven individuals with great passion. Successful social entrepreneurship comes from people with a mission, and that mission usually comes from a personal experience or need.
Read on....
ITNAmerica E-newsletter
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 | Volume 5. Summer 2009 |
In this IssueITNOrlando: We're Off to the Races! Sheldon Suroff: ITN Closes the Circle Volunteering Gives New Perspective on Aging Liberty Mutual Debuts "Driver Seat Game" The Older Driver Evaluation Process
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ITNOrlando: We're Off to the Races!By Fran Carlin-Rogers, Board Member, ITNOrlando Start Your Engines Orlando began preparations to expand senior transportation options back in the mid 90s, long before we had ever heard of the Independent Transportation Network®. A visionary leader at the Central Florida Area Agency on Aging recognized that senior transportation was a key component of each strategic plan identifying critical needs of elders. Several programs were started which set a tone of innovation around this topic. Local and statewide transportation summits focusing on the triumvirate of safe roads, safe drivers and transportation alternatives, and an informative publication, "What Do You Do When Your Car Won't Get You There," helped prepare our community to start travelling together. |
 Sheldon Suroff: ITN Closes the CircleFor Sheldon Suroff, ITNAmerica's newest affiliate ITNStCharles closes a circle that started in 1994 when his son was killed by a 92 year old wrong-way driver suffering from dementia. After Jason's tragic death at 21 years old, Sheldon and his wife Karen turned their grief into activism, establishing a nonprofit organization, Concerned Americans for Responsible Driving (CARD), and creating the Impaired Driver Law. | |
 Volunteering Gives New Perspective on AgingBy Bill Clark, Volunteer Driver, Getting on in years is not easy, especially when it comes to getting from one place to another. When no family member is available to help, driving yourself to the appointment appears to be the only option. This decision can cause mixed feelings. Eyesight is not what it used to be and reaction time is slower. Guilt about driving under these conditions may arise, but what are the other choices? Aging requires visiting doctors more often, and with blood draws, x-rays, and other transportation needs, it is not unusual to have more than one appointment in a week. | |
 Liberty Mutual Debuts "Driver Seat Game"Liberty Mutual, ITNAmerica's national insurance partner, launched its online Driver Seat Game, a video game that allows players of all ages to experience first-hand the physical and cognitive limitations that older drivers may experience while operating a motor vehicle. The goal of the game is to make players sensitive to the physical obstacles faced by their parents at various stages of aging and inspire conversations between adult children and their senior parents. | |
 The Older Driver Evaluation ProcessHealthcare practitioners play an important role in addressing driving safety with their patients. Changes that often come with age—vision and hearing loss, slower reaction times, chronic illness and medication—can affect driving ability. The problem is that patients might not know it. | |
| The Road Ahead is the e-newsletter of ITNAmerica, and is generously supported by The Atlantic Philanthropies. © 2008 ITNAmerica. ITNAmerica.org. All Rights Reserved. | |
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ITN America
ITN America – Independent Transportation Network
On October 21, 2008, Alyssa Israel and I attended a talk by the founder of ITN America and ITN Portland in Maine. The talk was at the Westport Senior Center, sponsored by United Way of Coastal Fairfield, United Way of Norwalk and Wilton, Westport Commission for Senior Services, and Weston Department of Social Services.
ITN CEO Katherine Freund has worked on ITN for the past 18 years. Other cities and areas are adopting her model.
Westport and its surrounding towns are considering starting an ITN in coastal Fairfield County. Connecticut already has two ITNs – Middletown and Enfield.
Key Points
· American households spend 25% of their income on transportation. 91% of people’s trips outside their homes are made in cars, 8% by walking.
· ITN is a local solution to the senior transportation challenge. It’s an example of “social entrepreneurship” – using an entrepreneurial business model to meet a social need.
o ITN started by discovering what the needs were and then designing a solution.
· ITN replicates private vehicle ownership using public and private resources in partnership.
· ITN uses technology (computers and telecommunications) to create an efficient system to use excess capacity in private vehicles;
o sharing rides, dispatched by a central office,
o driven by volunteers using their own cars or fleet cars that were donated,
o passengers pay
o volunteers are reimbursed for gas and maintenance on a per mile basis.
o Rides are available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day for any purpose.
o Riders get a 20% discount for sharing a ride and a 50% discount for reserving the ride 24 hours in advance.
o Scholarships are available on a needs-basis.
· Half the expenses of the organization are funded by fares. The rest comes from membership fees, donations from local businesses and corporations, grants from governments or foundations and an annual fundraiser.
o People can donate cars and get credits that they use to get rides or enable a relative to get a ride. Volunteering works the same way.
· Good for the local economy because it enables seniors to get out and shop, go to medical appointments and socialize (go to restaurants, movies, concerts, worship).
· Costs $125,000 to get launched and pay for the software. (It’s a bit like a franchise.)
· CT may have a $50,000 transportation grant available to help start such an enterprise.
· Connecticut insurance and livery laws have been changed to allow this.
o Drivers must have special license.
On October 21, 2008, Alyssa Israel and I attended a talk by the founder of ITN America and ITN Portland in Maine. The talk was at the Westport Senior Center, sponsored by United Way of Coastal Fairfield, United Way of Norwalk and Wilton, Westport Commission for Senior Services, and Weston Department of Social Services.
ITN CEO Katherine Freund has worked on ITN for the past 18 years. Other cities and areas are adopting her model.
Westport and its surrounding towns are considering starting an ITN in coastal Fairfield County. Connecticut already has two ITNs – Middletown and Enfield.
Key Points
· American households spend 25% of their income on transportation. 91% of people’s trips outside their homes are made in cars, 8% by walking.
· ITN is a local solution to the senior transportation challenge. It’s an example of “social entrepreneurship” – using an entrepreneurial business model to meet a social need.
o ITN started by discovering what the needs were and then designing a solution.
· ITN replicates private vehicle ownership using public and private resources in partnership.
· ITN uses technology (computers and telecommunications) to create an efficient system to use excess capacity in private vehicles;
o sharing rides, dispatched by a central office,
o driven by volunteers using their own cars or fleet cars that were donated,
o passengers pay
o volunteers are reimbursed for gas and maintenance on a per mile basis.
o Rides are available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day for any purpose.
o Riders get a 20% discount for sharing a ride and a 50% discount for reserving the ride 24 hours in advance.
o Scholarships are available on a needs-basis.
· Half the expenses of the organization are funded by fares. The rest comes from membership fees, donations from local businesses and corporations, grants from governments or foundations and an annual fundraiser.
o People can donate cars and get credits that they use to get rides or enable a relative to get a ride. Volunteering works the same way.
· Good for the local economy because it enables seniors to get out and shop, go to medical appointments and socialize (go to restaurants, movies, concerts, worship).
· Costs $125,000 to get launched and pay for the software. (It’s a bit like a franchise.)
· CT may have a $50,000 transportation grant available to help start such an enterprise.
· Connecticut insurance and livery laws have been changed to allow this.
o Drivers must have special license.
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