Another critical shortage: Volunteers behind the wheel

The number of Rappahannock seniors who depend on rides to medical appointments is growing, but a shortage of drivers strains transportation accessibility

Imagine: You’re in your mid-70s living alone and recovering from major surgery. Six weeks of physical therapy is required to get back on your feet. You don’t have access to a vehicle or are physically unable to drive. Your family is no longer in the area. Help from friends to get you to appointments isn’t always possible. What now? 

This scenario is a reality for many in rural Rappahannock County, especially the elderly. 

Fortunately, a handful of area organizations — Rapp at Home, the Senior Center, Foothills Area Mobility System (FAMS), Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Service Board and Vol Tran —  work together to provide free transportation services for those in need. 

Alas, there’s a catch. Volunteers do the driving. But there aren’t enough of them, especially as this aging community places greater demands on the services.

FAMS coordinates ride requests for the five counties served by the Community Service Board — Rappahannock, Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Orange. It reported 1,149 rides were requested for Rappahannock County for the past two years. Just over 700, or about 60% of the requests, were met. Wheelchair trips fared better with about 75% of requests met. Some requests were canceled because of inclement weather or appointment changes, but most were due to a lack of drivers. 

“Although we have about 10 to 15 volunteers that regularly do Rappahannock trips, the major reason trips go unfulfilled is because we don’t have enough drivers,” said Martin Flattery, FAMS mobility coordinator. 

Rapp at Home, the county nonprofit that helps residents “age in the community comfortably, safely, independently and with peace of mind,” provides free transportation for medical appointments, including a wheelchair van service, as well as trips for prescription and grocery pickups, and other errands. 

“On the surface those look like pretty good percentages,” Rapp at Home president Joyce Wenger said of the FAMS data, “but they don’t give the full picture.” 

“Often people have to reschedule appointments because drivers aren’t available or, if for some reason a driver can’t make an appointment, they have to scramble to try and find a replacement,” she said. “Some of our drivers are doing three or four trips a week with some trips taking a half or full day. Clearly, we need to find more drivers to keep the program sustainable, especially as we expect to expand the service.”

Rappahannock’s Senior Center also runs a transportation program providing free rides for non-wheelchair medical appointments and other trips for seniors over 60. The center’s manager, Darcy Canton, voiced concern about the need for additional drivers. 

“There is always a need for new drivers because, for the most part, our volunteers are retirees who can ‘tire-out’ over time,” she said. “Often, they eventually become clients in need of a ride, so we always need to be thinking about how we can replenish our ranks.”

Meeting the need 

Sperryville resident Debbie Settle had to give up driving seven years ago and uses Rapp at Home’s wheelchair van service for medical appointments. “I am delighted with the service and the friendly drivers, but there are just too few of them,” she said. 

Recently she had to cancel two dental appointments in Culpeper because a driver couldn’t be found. “They need to expand the pool of wheelchair van drivers,” she said. “The same two or three people aren’t always available. It’s not their fault; they have their own schedules, too.”

Cheryl Howard, who lives in Washington, fractured her leg last August, requiring several surgeries. Unable to drive, she contacted Rapp at Home for transport to doctor and physical therapy appointments. 

“Rapp at Home is great,” she said. “They got me to all my important doctor appointments, but recently I’ve missed a couple of physical therapy sessions because a driver couldn’t be found. I have no complaints with the service, but they need to find more drivers. The few they have can’t be expected to be driving day in and day out. They need to come up for air.”

The chair of Rapp at Home’s transportation subcommittee, Mike Wenger, noted that most of the transportation needs in rural areas like Rappahannock are fulfilled by the person requiring assistance, or by their family or friends.  

“Our volunteer driving fills in the gaps for the relatively small percentage of residents who can’t drive or find a ride,” he said. “If someone needs wheelchair transport, that’s a whole other ballgame. Family and friends can’t help, unless they purchase a special van costing up to $60,000.” 

Wenger is certain there are people in Rappahannock confined to a wheelchair who need to go to the doctor but don’t know about Rapp at Home’s wheelchair service. “Four of the people I’m driving now did not know about our service and postponed medical treatment for a long time,” he said. “Once they found out, they started catching up on deferred medical appointments, sometimes scheduling two or three a week. That puts a lot of pressure on the volunteer system.”

Why not commercial transport?

Commercial transport costs may be covered by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, but many of the drivers for those providers come from Northern Virginia or the Charlottesville area.  They can lose their way on rural roads or leave clients waiting for long periods after their appointments while going on other runs. 

Robin Grigsby, her husband Buddy and son Jason are a case in point. Over the past year, the Castleton family has faced limited access to a car and has needed transportation to medical appointments in Warrenton, Culpeper and Charlottesville.  

They have come to depend on volunteer services due to their prior experiences. “We can’t rely on our insurance,” Grigsby explained. “Sometimes they say they don’t cover our area, or if we can get a driver, he can’t find our address. We never know whether they will show up. I don’t know what we’d do if we didn’t have these local volunteer drivers helping us out.”

Settle has had similar problems. “I use Medicaid. They send people out from the city who don’t know their way around. Cell phones don’t always work here and GPS can be inaccurate,” he said. “One guy showed up in a car when I needed wheelchair transport. After your appointment is over you may be waiting up to three or four hours because the driver is making another run.”

Expanding mobility access

Last August the Regional Transportation Collaborative (RTC) was created to address limited transportation resources in the five counties served by the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission. Working with several area nonprofit groups providing volunteer transportation services, including Rapp at Home, the collaborative is focused on volunteer recruitment as well as providing the public with information about transportation services. 

Kristin Lam Peraza, RTC’s mobility manager, said the group will be rolling out a public outreach program this month. “We are planning a big push soon to recruit more volunteer drivers,” she said. “Over the next few months our representatives will be attending community meetings and events, reaching out on social media and newspaper ads. The best way to recruit volunteers is by one-on-one conversations and word of mouth, so we are also looking at hosting small get-togethers with potential volunteers.”

Joyce Wenger said Rapp at Home plans more outreach through its own initiative and the RTC effort. “We plan on taking out ads in the newspaper and working with our partners at RTC to beef up communication about our transportation service and the need for drivers,” she said. “All of our drivers are over 50 with many in their 60s, 70s and even 80s. We hope to recruit younger folks who we know are busy with their daily lives but might find time to do one or two rides a month.” 

Canton observed that there is no public transportation in Rappahannock. “Getting rides for people who need them will always be an issue,” she said. “Without the support of our community’s amazing volunteers, a lot of folks who need transportation would be in trouble, especially our seniors. I hope volunteers will continue to step up and keep these programs going.”

“I enjoy helping people and I think it is important to give back,” said Dan Lanigan, a Washington resident who has been a volunteer driver for over five years.  “Driving gives me the chance to meet folks that I would not normally meet in my day-to-day life. It’s a great opportunity to get to know people and hear their views on life. Being a volunteer driver can be a deeply satisfying experience.”

By Bob Hurley | For Foothills Forum

Editor’s note: Bob Hurley has been a driver for Rapp at Home since October 2021.

How to get help — and how you can help

Are you interested in becoming a volunteer driver? Or are you over 50 and in need of a ride for a medical appointment (including wheelchair transport), a prescription or grocery pickup, or other errands?  

If so, call Rapp at Home at 540-937-4663 or the Foothills Area Mobility System (no age limit) at 540-829-5300. 

The Rappahannock Senior Center also provides rides (but not wheelchair transport) for shopping, errands and medical appointments for residents over 60. The center’s number: 540-987-3638.

Foothills Forum is an independent, community-supported nonprofit tackling the need for in-depth research and reporting on Rappahannock County issues.

The group has an agreement with Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News, to present this series and other award-winning reporting projects. More at foothillsforum.org. 

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