County boosts transport program

The nonprofit Care Cars for Elders program has gotten more money from its primary backer, the Spokane County government, along with an admonition to broaden its financial support.

Care Cars uses volunteer drivers to transport elderly, medically fragile people to essential medical appointments if they have no other means of getting there.

The program lost its regular funding three years ago, but Spokane County commissioners stepped into the breach.

Commissioners gave Care Cars $80,000 earlier this year and allocated $28,000 more on Tuesday.

“We certainly needed this to finish the year,” said Mac Hatcher, Care Cars information and assistance director.

Long Term Care of Eastern Washington has agreed to contribute $12,000, subject to approval of its board on Friday, which will bring Care Cars’ budget to $120,000 for the year.

“It’s not an ideal budget,” Hatcher said. “We’d like to have more, but it’s doable at that amount.”

Demand for service is up. Hatcher said Care Cars volunteers drove 45,000 miles last year to provide an estimated 4,500 trips for about 260 people, and the organization has already served approximately the same number of people this year.

Care Cars was created in 1984 by Long Term Care, which distributes federal, state and local money for elder services.

Long Term Care serves Spokane, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Whitman and Ferry counties and the city of Spokane.

The Care Cars program serves a relatively small number of elderly Spokane County residents who are 60 and older and have medical problems. Clients, some of whom have dementia or similar problems, can’t use public transportation and have no friends or relatives to help them.

“It’s a group of very frail people who need an escort with them when they go places,” said Sharen Schermer, assistant director of Long Term Care.

Schermer said many of the Care Cars volunteers are elderly themselves, and some have given up their mileage reimbursement to help keep the program going.

Hatcher said Care Cars, a division of the nonprofit Spokane Mental Health, has been trying to find new financial support, “but there are not tons and tons of resources out there.”

For more information about Care Cars or to volunteer, call (509) 458-7450.