Free Rides for for Jackson and Hillsdale Veterans

• Feonix Mobility Rising offers free rides to veterans and others, using grants to cover the cost.
• The service started in Hillsdale and Jackson with veterans, expanded to low income and expecting mothers, and aims to expand to additional audiences with mobility challenges.
• Video shows Vietnam Veteran Michael Hayes, his mobility challenges, and Feonix Mobility Rising Mobility Navigator Deb Hyatte describing the service.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

In towns like Jackson, getting to all the places you need to go without a car can be a daunting challenge. I recently found out about a new mobility service offering free rides that wants to be the solution. And it’s starting with our veterans.

Age isn’t slowing down Michael Hayes.

“I am the treasurer here with the organization. I also make different crafts as well as food here, and…what we saw as a consignment basis back to the individuals. And, during the holidays, I do all of the decorations for the dining rooms as well as the dinner dances downstairs,” he tells me.

A Vietnam vet living in Jackson, Hayes has a lot going on: softball, color guard, baking brownies and running the store here at the Senior Center…

On a good day, he bikes…or takes a bus. But sometimes, not having a car leaves him in the lurch.

“My biggest one right now is back and forth to Ann Arbor,” says Hayes.

Ann Arbor has the closest VA hospital. The Veterans Affairs Office at the Senior Center provides transportation there and back only one day a week.

The VA Clinic has a bus to the hospital, but it departs from way out here in Michigan Center. Getting here — and timing your trip to make sure there’s public transit to take you home — can be tricky.

Enter Feonix Mobility Rising — a nationwide concept for help with mobility that started in Jackson and Hillsdale counties just last year.

“Feonix provides a transportation assistance hub which is a one-stop, one-shop, everything all in one place easy access to get you where you need to go,” explains Feonix Mobility Navigator Deb Hyatte.

Feonix works with local transportation providers and drivers to get people like Michael Hayes where they need to be…using grant funds to cover the costs.

“Our app is CATCHARIDE that allows you to book the rides," says Hyatte. "To start the process with us, you have to do an intake, which then we determine how much your wallet is. Once that is enabled, then you use the app and book the rides. We are also able to buy you a bus pass so you can use your public transit.”

Feonix is currently working with two local Jackson partners. Hyatte tells me they are recruiting volunteer drivers. Drivers are reimbursed for mileage at Michigan’s maximum rate.

Hayes says Feonix has been a big help. Without it. he says: “Well, I’d probably not be getting back and forth to Ann Arbor like I do.”

In addition to veterans, Feonix is also serving low income individuals and expecting mothers, and hopes to roll out free services for more audiences soon.

You’ll find more information about Feonix Mobility Rising offerings HERE .

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