photo by: Elvyn Jones

A Senior Resource Center van is pictured Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, in the Eudora Community Center Parking lot.

The Senior Resource Center for Douglas County is introducing transportation services in Eudora and Lecompton and is seeking volunteers to help with some of them.

Megan Poindexter, executive director of the Senior Resource Center, said the agency has made a van available in Eudora to provide rides for seniors there. In addition, the agency will introduce a once-a-month shopping excursion bus for seniors in Lecompton in January. The agency’s senior ride programs are available to county residents age 60 and older.

“We’ve been working on this for some time,” Poindexter said of the Eudora Senior Wheels program, which started Friday. “A part of what has taken time was making sure the van was in tip-top shape and it had all the repairs needed to make it ready for active service.”

Unlike the Senior Resource Center’s Lawrence transportation program, the Eudora program won’t employ paid drivers. Rather, it is modeled after the Baldwin City Senior Wheels program, which has been operating with volunteer drivers since 2012. The Senior Resource Center will still be paying for fuel, vehicle maintenance and insurance, Poindexter said.

The Eudora van will be available for seniors needing rides for such things as shopping, medical visits or hair appointments, Poindexter said. The destination doesn’t necessarily need to be in Eudora, she said; it can be anywhere in Douglas County. There isn’t a specific fee charged for the rides, but riders are asked to “contribute to their ability,” Poindexter said.

Currently, Poindexter said, there are two volunteer drivers available to provide rides in Eudora. She said that if more drivers volunteer and complete the required training, the service will be able to provide rides more frequently.

Eudora City Commissioner Ruth Hughs, who worked with the Senior Resource Center to bring the ride service to Eudora, said she knows a volunteer who has expressed an interest in serving as a coordinator for the system, scheduling rides and organizing the volunteers. Poindexter said the Baldwin City ride service already has a similar position.

Baldwin City’s government has also provided funding for the Baldwin City Senior Wheels program, starting with $1,500 when it was introduced in 2012. Although the Senior Resource Center has not asked the same of the Eudora City Commission, Hughs said she was confident the commissioners would support the service if the topic came up.

“I see this as being such a blessing,” Hughs said. “We have nothing like this in Eudora.”

Eudora seniors can schedule rides by calling 785-727-7876. Those interested in volunteering should call Heidi Briery, Senior Resource Center transportation services director, at 785-727-7877.

Lecompton shopping bus

Starting Jan. 7, Poindexter said, an eight-passenger bus will take seniors from Lecompton to the Dillons and Walmart stores at Sixth and Wakarusa in Lawrence. Current plans call for the bus to run on the first Tuesday of each month. It will depart at 10 a.m. from the Lecompton United Methodist Church, 402 Elmore St.

If there is enough demand, a second bus service could be added on the third Tuesday of each month, Poindexter said. Seniors can reserve a ride by calling 785-727-7876.

“We’re going to give that a go to see if we can assist people in Lecompton in getting some of their needs met,” she said. “They are without a grocery store, so we’re going to drive up there and take them to a couple of stores in Lawrence and see how it goes.”

Depending on the feedback it gets from seniors in Lecompton, the Senior Resource Center might adjust the schedule in the future, Poindexter said.