Keeping U.P. Older Adults Connected to Care

‍For many older adults in the Upper Peninsula, a ride to a medical appointment is not a given. Public transit is limited, family may live hours away, and driving through a Houghton County winter is not something every 80-year-old wants to do alone. Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) Upper Michigan Chapter started 40 years ago with Friendly Visiting, home visits meant to ease social isolation among older adults, and it was through those relationships that volunteers first identified a need for rides to medical appointments. That discovery led LBFE to build Drive to Care, a door-through-door medical transportation service now available across Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, Marquette, and Ontonagon counties.

‍By 2022, demand had outgrown LBFE's driver pool. Volunteers were aging out, fuel costs were rising, and the organization risked pulling program staff away from their regular roles just to cover rides. That July, LBFE launched its Drive to Care Volunteer Engagement Campaign across Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties, seeking additional volunteers to meet demand. The campaign was part of Med Trans 2.0, a two-year plan to rebuild LBFE's volunteer transportation model from the ground up.

‍The plan combined a targeted recruitment campaign for Drive to Care volunteer drivers, who pick up passengers at their door and bring them through the door of their appointment, with a new stipend reimbursement system, later simplified to straight mileage reimbursement, to offset the cost of using a personal vehicle. Two staff members completed Passenger Assistance Safety and Sensitivity (PASS) and wheelchair transport train-the-trainer certification, allowing LBFE to train its own volunteer drivers in-house rather than relying on outside instructors.

‍LBFE recruited 34 new volunteer drivers, who helped LBFE achieve a 27% increase in total non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) rides, a 26% increase in wheelchair accessible transports, a 130% increase in regional transports, a 26% increase in older adult passengers, a 62% increase in volunteer-provided rides, a 76% increase in active volunteer drivers, and a 95% increase in total volunteer hours. Reliance on non-NEMT staff was effectively eliminated, and service extended steadily across all five LBFE service counties.

The pilot went well enough that LBFE is now replicating the model for another one of its core programs, Friendly Visiting.

‍Beyond Superior Health Foundation, the Drive to Care campaign also received support from Copper Shores Community Health Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation, Mary Thompson Foundation, and The Clare Foundation.

‍The entire project report med trans 2.0 project report is published on their website: Drive to Care | LBFE which includes a link to a volunteer application.

‍SHF awarded a $22,800 Spring Grant in 2022 to help support this work.