| | The Faith In Action minibus was met outside the Broome County Council of Churches. The minibus was recently refurbished; there is a large image of Della Reese on its side. On this particular day there were four clients who were scheduled to ride the minibus. All were elderly individuals on their way to a medical appointment. |
| | |
| | One this particular ride Oscar was the driver and Samantha was the bus monitor. Oscar is twice retired: once from Sears and most recently from Donson Transportation where he worked as a medivan driver. The bus monitor assists clients with getting into and out of the bus, and if needed, assists with buckling the client's seatbelt. The bus monitor may also furnish an extra step. The step is a wooden riser covered in grip tape, and is used to accomodate the minibus's relatively high first step. When the bus picks up a client who has ambulatory difficulties the driver will take the step and place it on the sidewalk so that there is an intermediate step between the ground and the bus. |
| | |
| | We had two pickups scheduled half an hour apart. We were running about twenty minutes early. Fortunately, when we arrived at the first pick-up site, the client was also ahead of schedule. We dropped the client off at the medical office and informed her of the return time. Although the client had not realized that she had to wait longer than she anticipated, there was no problem. Samantha and the client agreed that the client would contact the office if she decided to take a taxi back to her house. |
| | |
| | The next pickup was for a frail individual. The driver was happy to lend an arm for support as she walked from her front door to the minibus. We dropped the client at her physical therapy appointment. As is customary for the Faith in Action van, the driver went inside to ask the receptionist when they expected the client to be done with the appointment. This was one of the few times that the receptionist was unable to give a prediction. |