Community Corner

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Howard County program brings drivers and seniors together.

Need a ride? Ask your neighbor.

That's the formula that has worked for Howard County Neighbor Ride, Inc., a program that has been bringing senior citizens and volunteer drivers together since 2004.

"I am 93-years-old and have a walker," one Neighbor Ride user said on a comment card. "The ride enables me to take an art class at the Bain Center. What a wonderful gift!"

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This November, use of Neighbor Ride rose 65 percent. One thousand rides were given by volunteers, taking residents of Howard County around town and beyond – to D.C., Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.  

The program has its beginnings in a 2001 research project conducted by the Howard County Office on Aging. The Office determined that the county's senior population was set to double by the year 2020.

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"Seniors surveyed in the study identified a lack of transportation as their top concern," said Colleen Dumais Konstanzer, Community Outreach Coordinator for Neighborhood Ride.

So the Office on Aging got together with Transportation Advocates, a grassroots coalition that works to increase public awareness of transportation issues. The group studied programs across the country – such as County Ride in Baltimore County -- that fill in transportation gaps.

Neighbor Ride was incorporated as a nonprofit in the summer of 2004 and began operating in November of the same year.

Currently more than 260 volunteers are on-call, coordinating rides for seniors. The drivers are varied; stay-at-home parents, retirees, and professionals all take time out of their days to give their neighbors rides.

"There are countless stories of the difference volunteers are making in the lives of the seniors we serve," Konstanzer said, and ability to help neighbors also makes a difference in the lives of volunteers.

Anyone aged 60 or older can register for Neighbor Ride. There are fees associated with the program, but rides are available for free if certain income requirements are met.

Individuals interested in learning more about volunteering can contact Neighbor Ride's Volunteer Coordinator at (410) 884-7433 or volunteer@neighborride.org.

Volunteer Orientations are currently scheduled for:
Wednesday, December 1st – 11 a.m.
Monday, December 13th – 6 p.m.
Friday, January 7th – 10 a.m.
Wednesday, January 12th – 6 p.m


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