By Moses Leos III.
With a 60-plus year driving history, Buda resident Lucille Owens always enjoyed the freedom of driving her car.
Since illness took away that freedom, Owens, who turns 94 in March, relies on friends and family to get around.
She now hopes a pilot study from the National Volunteer Caregiving Network (NVCN) can help seniors find transportation assistance.
Owens began driving as a teenager in the open pastures near Bartlett, Texas. After a month of rolling through the fields, she drove herself to Temple to get her driver’s license.
Buda resident Lucille Owens hopes a new volunteer-based transportation program will help folks like her get around town a little easier.(Photo by Moses Leos III) |
From then on, she was unstoppable. Her experiences took her all over the Austin area.
“I’ve had a good [driving] record. I’ve never even had a wreck,” she said.
But in 2011, her driving privileges were revoked due to macular degeneration. She relied on her late husband for transportation, but had to find other means since his passing.
Owens calls upon her bingo friends and her great granddaughter. Often she pays $20; sometimes she buys them lunch or dinner.
When her network can’t help, that puts Owens in a precarious situation.
“Sometimes, I have to put off buying groceries, because I can’t get someone to take me,” she said.
Dr. Oren Renick, a Texas State University health administration professor, understands transportation issues affecting seniors. He coordinates the Mutual Adoption Pact (MAP), a learning service program funded by Texas State that provides caregiving service to the elderly.
The MAP is a program under the NVCN, which structures nonprofits to provide volunteer services for seniors. However, the MAP rarely deals with transportation, and must turn away transportation calls from Hays County seniors.
As the need for elderly assistance grows, MAP and NVCN staff understands the need for senior transportation service.
Renick is pleased to see a pilot study address the issue.
“You’ve got to start somewhere,” he said. “Buda and Kyle is a good place to start.”
Genevieve Beard, a resident of Creekside Villas Senior Living Center in Buda, welcomes the idea of a senior transportation service.
She sees friends and neighbors struggle to find transportation.
While family helps out, she knows she may need the service someday. Beard was forced to stop driving in 2009.
“If I didn’t have any family around, I would have to use that (service),” she said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
For Owens, the thought of never climbing into the driver’s seat is frustrating.
But a volunteer lending a hand is a good idea.
“It’s really important to…get someone to help me [go places],” Owens said. “I would appreciate people like that.”
