Alliance for Community Transportation Receives Grant from Tufts Health Plan Foundation
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Alliance for Community Transportation Receives Grant from Tufts Health Plan Foundation
DOVER – June 19, 2019 – The Alliance for Community Transportation and the Cooperative Alliance for Seacoast Transportation (COAST) were awarded a three-year grant for more than $43,000 from Tufts Health Plan Foundation to increase access to transportation in the region. This is one of 15 new community investments totaling nearly $1.9 million that reflect the Foundation’s commitment to advancing policies and practices that support healthy aging, including addressing gaps in food access, housing, transportation, and community safety.
“Each community has its own unique needs. Tufts Health Plan Foundation focuses resources in communities that want to achieve age-friendly practices that are relevant, focus on under-represented communities, and engage older people in the process,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and vice president of corporate citizenship for Tufts Health Plan. “We are proud to support organizations that are responding to the needs of older people in their communities.”
ACT is a council of transportation providers, planners, social service agencies, and health care providers that serves Strafford County and eastern Rockingham County. This grant will help ACT leverage federal funding aimed at increasing program efficiency and improving transportation services for older adults and individuals with disabilities. The Foundation’s grant will also support TripLink, ACT’s regional transportation call center. TripLink provides call-taking and ride scheduling services for ACT, COAST, Ready Rides, and Rockingham Nutrition & Meals on Wheels’ Senior Shuttles. Consolidated call-taking makes it easier for callers to book rides with multiple agencies at the same time, and it allows the agencies to operate more efficiently.
“TripLink allows people who are looking for a ride to their doctor or to the grocery store to find out what services are available in their town and what the eligibility requirements are,” explained Rad Nichols, chair of ACT and Executive Director of COAST. “We’re excited to make transportation services even easier to access by creating a universal application that will enable people to apply for more than one service at the same time, without having to fill out forms over and over or handing out multiple copies of their proof of age or disability. By removing obstacles we’re hoping more people will take advantage of the affordable and convenient transportation services that our nonprofit partners provide.”
About the Alliance for Community Transportation
ACT is southeastern New Hampshire’s state-designated Regional Coordination Council for Community Transportation. Membership is comprised of health care providers, human service agencies, transportation providers, and regional planning commissions. ACT’s mission is to facilitate the implementation of coordinated community transportation and to encourage the development of improved and expanded regional transportation services. ACT is led by the Cooperative Alliance for Community Transportation (COAST). For more information please visit www.communityrides.org.
About Tufts Health Plan Foundation
Established in 2008, Tufts Health Plan Foundation supports the health and wellness of the diverse communities we serve. The Foundation has given more than $34 million to Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island nonprofits that promote healthy living with an emphasis on older adults. The Foundation will begin funding in Connecticut in 2019. Tufts Health Plan Foundation funds programs that move communities toward implementing age-friendly policies and practices that are relevant, focus on older adults and include them in community solutions. Visit www.tuftshealthplanfoundation.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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