Driven to volunteer Transport service helps those in need

BY DIANE GILES dgiles@kenoshanews.com  

KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY BILL SIEL Charlene Sweeney, left, provides volunteer driving services to Fran Hybert, who once was a Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services Volunteer Transportation Program driver as well. 

    There was a time, about four years ago, when Fran Hybert volunteered to drive those in need to their doctor appointments.

    Now Hybert is the passenger alongside Charlene Sweeney, a volunteer driver with the Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services Volunteer Transportation Service program. Formerly known as the Volunteer Escort program, this service assists people who have difficulty using public transportation because of age or disability.

    “Fran knows me so well; I can’t pull my little practical joke. (I sometimes tell riders,) ‘Here’s the deal: I drive — you pray,’” Sweeney said with a twinkle in her eye.

    The program helps Kenosha County residents attend local and regional medical appointments. Shopping for groceries, prescriptions, banking and other personal business are also made possible through the program.

    About twice a month, Hybert needs a ride to her doctor’s office in Milwaukee. She still drives short distances, but her deteriorating eyesight prevents her from driving long distances or driving for the transportation program.

    Hybert began volunteering at Kenosha Medical Center 25 years ago but wanted to try a different volunteer opportunity. She was a driver for the transportation program for about nine months.

    “I think that it’s a great service for everyone, truly,” Hybert said, adding that she has suggested the program to acquaintances.

    As for Sweeney, she, too, has been both in the driver’s seat and passenger’s seat when it comes to the transportation program.

    “We’ve both been in the same seat, as drivers, then clients, and now I’m a driver again,” Sweeney said, noting that she was the recipient of volunteer driving services when she had cataract surgeries.

    Hybert has lived in Kenosha for more than 50 years, coming here as a teacher from Eau Claire in 1954. This is Sweeney’s second time living here, having returned most recently in 2005.

    Sweeney has moved around quite a bit and discovered the best way to meet people is through volunteerism. Driving, she said, seemed a natural fit because she likes to drive.

    And, she said, it’s a blessing.

    “Fran is so nice. She laughs at all my jokes,” Sweeney said.

    “Whether they’re funny or not, right?” Hybert retorted.

    Some drivers drop their riders off at their destination, then leave and return for pick up. But Sweeney makes it a point to stay at the location until the rider is ready to return. She once waited 12 hours for a woman who was having surgery and didn’t have any family in town.

    Passengers enter her car in good moods and not-sogood moods, but Sweeney has learned to just “go with the flow,” she said.

    Getting her passengers safely to their destinations is a responsibility Sweeney takes very seriously.

    Dedicated volunteer drivers like Sweeney are the backbone of this program, said Barb Tenuta, coordinator of the Volunteer Transportation Service Program.

    “We’re not a transportation company,” Tenuta said. “It’s all by volunteers, and they use their own cars.”

    Clients must be ambulatory and be able to get in and out of vehicles. Riders pay a set fee: $7 round trip for a local trip — more for longer trips — payable to the driver at the time of the service.

    Once a month each volunteer driver files a report and turns any money collected over to Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services. In the report, the driver keeps track of mileage and is reimbursed 42 cents per mile.

    Those interested in becoming program clients can call Tenuta at (262) 842-7433 to find out if they qualify. Those wanting to become volunteer drivers also may contact Tenuta at that number.