[tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on Dial-a-Ride
- From: "Armington, Mycell" <Mycell.Armington@xxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:23:55 -0500
Hi Chip and all,
The priority list is as shown below:
1. Medical
2. work--educational (these are equally valued)
3. Life sustaining--recreational (this is where grocery store or drug
store trips would be valued or placed.
4. Social. (this is where church, or organizational meetings or dinner
out are placed. My big concern here is a basic right of freedom of
religion is being taken away or hampered; because of lack of
transportation for one thing, then, if one is in a leadership role in
one's congregation than where does the a vocational roles get placed in
the prioritization of trips because that's certainly more than social or
recreational. As stated in the article it helps one to sustain spiritual
and mental health. The other additional thought here is, what if a
person doesn't cook and eats all their meals out, does this eating out
adventure become social or life sustaining. If we're not careful than it
may become a medical issue because if one doesn't eat than one will
starve and it then becomes a medical issue and one gets bumped up to the
highest priority.
All humor aside and back to reality, this is a mess and I've pledged to
do all I can to bring dignity back to those who need dignity most of
all. The most vulnerable of our society. It does require unity though
and we must work together. Do I have anyone out there to work with me?
Warm regards,
Mycell Armington (Cellie)
Mycell Armington
Contact Representative
DO 659
Social Security Administration
2002 Old St. Augustine Rd Suite B-12
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 942-9514 x 3012
Mycell.Armington@xxxxxxx
Social Security Benefits America
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message and any attachments are for the
sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and
privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Any
unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If
you have received this message in error please contact the sender (by
phone or reply electronic mail) and then destroy all copies of the
original message.
-----Original Message-----
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Chip Orange
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 1:41 PM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on Dial-a-Ride
Allison of course is the one who found this article in the Democrat, but
she said it's almost an entire page, and the many pictures are great;
she said if anything at all can change the way things are, this article
should do it!
Also, I never remember hearing that going to the grocery store was a
priority class before today; has that always been the case, that they
would give priority to the grocery store over recreational trips??? Or
is this a very recent change, made for it's PR value???
thanks.
Chip
------------------------------
Chip Orange
Database Administrator
Florida Public Service Commission
Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(850) 413-6314
(Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Armington, Mycell
> Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 1:17 PM
> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on Dial-a-Ride
>
> Thank you MR. A. I just want things to get better for us all!
> Warm regards,
>
> Mycell Armington (Cellie)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mycell Armington
> Contact Representative
> DO 659
> Social Security Administration
> 2002 Old St. Augustine Rd Suite B-12
> Tallahassee, FL 32301
> (850) 942-9514 x 3012
> Mycell.Armington@xxxxxxx
>
> Social Security Benefits America
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message and any attachments are for the
> sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and
> privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Any
> unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited.
> If you have received this message in error please contact the sender
> (by phone or reply electronic mail) and then destroy all copies of the
> original message.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Charles Atkins
> Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 12:40 PM
> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on Dial-a-Ride
>
> Ms. Mycell!
>
> Ms. I applaud you,
>
> your courage and,
>
> your leadership!
>
> Charles Atkins
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Allison and Chip Orange" <acorange@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 8:19 AM
> Subject: [tabi] from today's Democrat: article on Dial-a-Ride
>
>
> > June 8, 2009
> > Some Dial-A-Ride users left waiting
> > With a funding decrease, service has had to prioritize rides By Doug
> > Blackburn DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER Mycell Armington leads a busy life.
> > She works at the Social Security Administration as a contact
> > representative, a job she's held for the past 31 years. She's a
> > worship leader in her
> church,
> > and
> > in her
> > spare time she visits correctional facilities to preach to inmates.
> > But Armington is finding Leon County considerably more difficult to
> > navigate in the past two months.
> > Armington, who is legally blind, lives just north of the
> city limits.
> She
> > relies
> > on Dial-A-Ride's community transportation program for almost all of
> her
> > trips.
> > But due to a decrease in state funding - compounded by an
> increase in
> > ridership -
> > Dial-A-Ride has been forced for the first time to institute
> a priority
> > system for
> > providing rides. Medical trips are the No. 1 priority, followed by
> > employment-education and grocery shopping.
> > "It's gotten much worse," Armington said. "It's totally
> bumped people
> off
> > of
> > any
> > going to church. It's considered a social activity, instead of
> spiritual
> > or
> > mental-health
> > enrichment.
> > "It's taken away my freedoms," she added. "It's a major issue."
> > Armington isn't the only one who's struggling to cope with the new
> > priority system at Dial-A-Ride, which she has taken to calling
> > "Dial-A-Wait." The
> priority
> > system
> > went into effect at the end of March.
> > Dorothy Martin, who lives just east of the city limits, is
> frustrated
> that
> > she can
> > no longer get rides for classes at the Senior Center.
> > "I can't even go to the grocery store when I want to now," Martin
> said. "I
> > don't
> > have a life now that they've cut the service back so much.
> I can't go
> > anywhere anymore."
> > Ronald Garrison, executive director at StarMetro, said he empathizes
> with
> > riders
> > who consider the new priority system an inconvenience. Almost all
> > recreational trips have been eliminated, he said, because of the
> > decrease in
> funding from
> the
> > Commission
> > for the Transportation Disadvantaged (CTD), the state agency housed
> within
> > the Department
> > of Transportation.
> > "People need to be talking to their legislators to look at different
> ways
> > to
> > provide
> > the funding," Garrison said.
> > Leon County's CTD funding for the current fiscal year was
> decreased by
>
> > about
> > $19,000,
> > from $446,373 to $427,768, according to Donna Peacock, StarMetro's
> > superintendent of paratransit operations.
> > Meanwhile, ridership is up significantly. For the first six
> months of
> the
> > fiscal
> > year, which started Oct. 1, there were 109,836 riders, compared to
> 96,329
> > the previous
> > year, Peacock said. This includes the bus-pass program.
> > "We've run this (paratransit) program five years, and never
> had to put
> a
> > priority
> > policy in place," Peacock said. "It's sort of come to a head now.
> > "Some of that may be due to the economy and more folks needing
> > transportation. I don't know what else to do. If there's no money,
> > there's no money."
> > Bobby Jerningan, executive director of CDT, the state agency,
> acknowledges
> > that the
> > "system is spread a little thin right now."
> > "We've had to dial back on our expenditures for next year," Jernigan
> said.
> > "It is
> > a hardship on those individuals who have grown to depend on this
> > transportation service.
> > It's a major deal."
> > It's certainly a major deal for Armington, Martin and others.
> Armington
> > said
> > she
> > can't afford to pay $35 to $40 for a cab, when Dial-A-Ride
> costs her
> > $2.50.
> > "I lead a very active and normal life and I intend to do so for the
> rest
> > of
> > my life,"
> > Armington said. "But this has made it really difficult.
> > "I'm also afraid of speaking out, because I may be a candidate for
> > retaliation."
> >
> > Check out the TABI resource web page at
> > http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI
> >
> > to unsubscribe send a message, containing a subject line of
> the word
> > unsubscribe, to tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> >
> >
> > if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org
> web
> > interface, or by sending an email to the address
> > tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in
> the subject.
> >
>
> Check out the TABI resource web page at
> http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI
>
> to unsubscribe send a message, containing a subject line of the word
> unsubscribe, to tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org
> web interface, or by sending an email to the address
> tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
> Check out the TABI resource web page at
> http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI
>
> to unsubscribe send a message, containing a subject line of the word
> unsubscribe, to tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org
> web interface, or by sending an email to the address
> tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
>
Check out the TABI resource web page at
http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI
to unsubscribe send a message, containing a subject line of the word
unsubscribe, to tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web
interface, or by sending an email to the address
tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI
to unsubscribe send a message, containing a subject line of the word
unsubscribe, to tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web
interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
Other related posts:
