Sen. Charles Schumer urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide funding for the Town of North Hempstead’s Project Independence on Tuesday at a press conference at the Great Neck Social Center.
Project Independence, which began in 2009, assists senior residents on the Town of North Hempstead who wish to remain in their own homes by providing them with a wide variety of services, including transportation.
The transportation program is set to expire on Dec. 31 and is the town seeking $1 million in funding to continue the program for the next three years.
The program currently has more than 10,000 members and has provided over 155,000 rides to senior residents, according to town officials.
“For seniors who are getting older and want to remain in their own homes, there’s one obstacle that stands in their way of getting every mile out of life,” Schumer said. “And that’s the challenge of transportation services.”
Project Independence partners with two taxi companies, Delux and Taxi Hispano, to provide rides for shopping trips and non-emergency medical appointments.
The program also has six buses, four of which run year-round to different routes.
To schedule a ride, a senior just needs to call 311 one day advance of the date to receive round trip transportation. Transportation for shopping is free of charge, and medical transportation is provided at an extremely reduced rate, according to Rebecca Miller, who serves as the deputy commissioner for aging services.
“North Hempstead saved my life — literally — with safe, low-cost transportation to doctors and therapists,” senior resident and Project Independence rider Phoebe Lazarus said at the conference.
Schumer said that according to a recent Long Island survey, the senior population is growing about 2 percent a year, which is six times the overall growth rate for residents.
He also referred to another study done by the county, which indicated that seniors will make up about a third of the island’s population by 2024.
“Now is not the time to put the breaks on a project that serves so many seniors,” he said.
Schumer also argued that the program would save the federal government tens of thousands of dollars by reducing the amount of money spent on assisted living through Medicare and Medicaid by allowing seniors to stay in their homes.
“Imagine something as simple as a ride to the supermarket meaning the difference between staying at home and moving to an assisted living facility,” Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said.
The program recently took on another 2,000 seniors from New Hyde Park after the closing of FEGS — the Federation Employment and Guidance Service.
Bosworth said it was important to the town to make sure that these seniors did not lose their independence with the closing of the program.
She called Project Independence a “critical safety net” for seniors.
As an example, Bosworth said, one taxi driver had called a program staff member to make sure a senior he regularly drove for dialysis was okay after not hearing from her for a few weeks.
“Just because a senior decides to hang up the car keys doesn’t mean they need to park at a nursing home or assisted facility,” Schumer said. “No way.”
