VITAL COMMUNITIES
Medical Transportation & Volunteer Driver Programs
Find A Ride
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MEDICAID TRANSPORTATION: New Hampshire residents enrolled in Medicaid who do not have a vehicle or a friend/family member who can drive them can call 844-259-4780 to request a ride. Please call at least 48 hours in advance. More details can be found here: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/ombp/medicaid/transportation/documents/how-to-request-transportation.pdf
DIAL-A-RIDE: available in Claremont only, through Southwestern Community Services. Call 603-542-9609 or email tpalmer@scshelps.org.
Volunteer Driver Program for Sullivan County, NH: through Southwestern Community Services. Call 603-542-9609 or email tpalmer@scshelps.org.
OTHER TRANSPORTATION:
Easter Seals – serves New Hampshire
Granite State Independent Living – provides wheelchair van, non-medical transportation and other transportation assistance for New Hampshire
VERMONT
MEDICAID TRANSPORTATION:
Orange & Windsor (northern) Counties: Stagecoach Transportation Services – 802-728-3773
Windham & Windsor (southern) Counties: Shared Transportation Services – 888-633-4001
Washington County: Green Mountain Transit Agency (GMT) – 802-223-7287
Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille & Orleans Counties: Rural Community Transportation (RCT) – 802-748-8170
VETLIFT: a volunteer program giving Veterans a Lift: www.connectingcommuters.org/vetliftvt/
DIAL-A-RIDE (For seniors, people with disabilities, Medicaid recipients, and people & families in need)
- Stagecoach offers several Dial-A- Ride options. Call 802-728-3773 or email info@stagecoach-rides.org to find out whether you’re eligible for the following free or subsidized services:
- Senior Meal Program provides transportation for seniors from their homes to meal sites in Randolph, Bethel, Chelsea, Royalton, Hancock, and Bradford. Call your local senior center for details.
- Ticket to Ride Program provides door-to-door transportation to grocery stores, medical appointments, work, errands, and social events. It is free for riders over age 60 and those with disabilities when there is no other transportation available in the household.
- Medicaid/Non-Emergency Medical Transportation provides free transportation to medical appointments for Medicaid recipients living in Barnard, Bethel, Bridgewater, Hartford, Hartland, Norwich, Pomfret, Rochester, Royalton, Sharon, Stockbridge, and Woodstock, and who do not have access to a vehicle.
- The Current operates Dial-A- Ride services (including medical appointment transportation for Medicaid recipients, senior meals transportation, and shopping trips) on weekdays for eligible riders in Ascutney, Brownsville, Cavendish, Grafton, Reading, Rockingham, Springfield, Weathersfield, Westminster, Windham, and Windsor. To determine if you’re eligible or to schedule your ride, call 802-460-7433.
More Volunteer Drivers Needed, Fall 2020!
Many volunteer drivers are elders who stopped volunteer driving in the spring due to the high risk for COVID-19 complications. This means there are not enough volunteers drivers to meet community demand. Are you willing and able to drive your neighbors where they need to go? Please contact one of the volunteer driver agencies listed below to begin!
COVID-19 Resources for Volunteer Drivers
Give A Ride
Many people in our community have no transportation of their own, cannot use the bus and yet need to access healthcare and other critical services. Interested in becoming a volunteer driver? Contact your senior center, faith group, health or community center to find out how you can help neighbors get where they need to go. You’ll find it a rewarding experience!
Join the Stagecoach Volunteer Driver team
Stagecoach coordinates many of the volunteer drivers here in the Upper Valley. Download Stagecoach’s Volunteer Application Packet and call 802-728-3773 or e-mail info@stagecoach-rides.org to get started as a Volunteer Driver. Volunteers are reimbursed for mileage and play a crucial role in the organization.
Join Volunteers in Action!
Are you able to drive a senior to a medical appointment, hairdresser, bank, or be willing to take a neighbor along with you when you do your grocery shopping? A small amount of your time will help our elders remain healthy and independent. We will work within your schedule. Please call us at 802-674-5971. Click here for more info.
Become a volunteer driver for The Current!
Our Dial-A-Ride service to medical appointments works because of our wonderful volunteer drivers. Are you looking for something worthwhile and important to do with your time? Our clients depend on people like you to help make their lives just a little easier, and you can depend on our mileage reimbursement. Please call us at 802-460-1195 or 888-869-6287.
Become a volunteer driver for Sullivan County Transit (Southwestern Community Services)
Call 603-542-9609 or email Teri at tpalmer@scshelps.org. You can also download the Application Packet here. (Note that it’s the same application as is used for paid bus drivers, which is why it’s titled “application for employment.”)
Transportation at Senior Centers or Social Service Agencies
Bugbee Center – van service to Bugbee senior center and grocery store for Hartford area seniors
Grafton County Senior Citizens Council – serves Lebanon area seniors
Thompson Senior Center – provides van and volunteer drivers to Woodstock (VT) area
Pathways of River Valley 603-448-2077 – serves Southern Grafton County (NH)
Transportation services available as part of participation in program.
Volunteers in Action 802-674-6711 – medical and non-medical transportation, shopping assistance, and meals-on-wheels for Windsor, West Windsor, Hartland, Reading, Westminster, Cornish, and Plainfield
West Central Behavioral Health – serves Southern Grafton County (NH)
Transportation services available as part of participation in program.
Still having trouble finding a ride or your town is not listed above / at left?
Call your local senior center, check with places of worship to see if they have a volunteer driver program, reach out to your community’s mutual aid network, call your town office, post on your town’s community discussion list or Facebook page asking for a ride, or search for a carpool on Go! Vermont or CommuteSmart NH.
Get Around the Upper Valley
Safe Routes to School During Pandemic
School reopening is the big topic right now: how to do it safely, effectively, and efficiently. New requirements for health checks, physical distancin [...]
Lend Your Voice to Local/National Commute Survey
The commutes of many Upper Valley residents have changed significantly due to COVID-19, with many shifting to telecommuting. Now that workplaces are s [...]
Y’all Curbed the Car!
On Friday, May 18, the Upper Valley celebrated its newest holiday: Curb the Car Day.
Riffing off National Bike to Work Day, Curb the Car Day embra [...]
Need Transportation in the Upper Valley?
This fall, Vital Communities' Transportation Program collaborated with Go! Vermont to develop a one-page guide to transportation in the Upper Valley, [...]
Your Bus in Real-Time.
Not sure when and where to catch Advance Transit or if the bus is on time? Download the Advance Transit Real Time App or check the Where’s My Bus? f [...]
Attention, Vermont Schools: It’s WAY TO GO! Time
This year's statewide Way to Go! School Challenge is September 25 - October 6. It’s a great way for schools to battle carbon pollution head-on!
[...]
Bike to Work Day at Dartmouth College
Bethany and I arrived bright and early at the Hop at Dartmouth College Friday, May 19, to greet employees and students who arrived that morning on two [...]
Dirty Hands, Clean Bikes
I had a lot of fun teaching a Basic Bike Maintenance workshop at the Upper Valley Haven on April 29, ably assisted by Lisa from the Haven!
A doze [...]
Spring Into Bike Riding Season…
...with practical skills training to get you riding more!
What is Everyday Bicycling?
It’s using your bike for those everyday trips that we all ma [...]
Survey Says: Parking and Transportation in White River Junction Are…
Thank you to the more than 500 downtown White River Junction residents, employees, business owners, and visitors who took our survey about parkin [...]
Vital Communities Program News
"Put Your Money Where Your Life Is": Reclaiming Our Local Economy
"Put Your Money Where Your Life Is": Reclaiming Our Local Economy Event series focuses on local investment as a tool for rebuilding our region's economy "When the pandemic recedes, we all will be called upon to take extraordinary ...more
Valley Quest Volunteer Monitors Needed
Do you enjoy being outdoors? Do you enjoy bringing others outdoors and making their experience something special? Then you are a good candidate for monitoring one or more of our 160+ Valley Quests throughout the Upper ...more
Localvore Passport Webinar
Learn how Localvore Passport can help your business connect with customers at an informational webinar, Tuesday, January 12 or Wednesday, January 13! (Attend either event. The same information will be presented twice; Zoom link below). Vermont-based Localvore is ...more
Upper Valley Everyone Eats: The Common Good; Not-So-Common Meals
With the close of 2020 came a pause for Upper Valley Everyone Eats (UVEE), the local hub of Vermont’s coronavirus relief program, Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE), which pays Vermont restaurants $10/meal to prepare free meals ...more
2020 Volunteers of the Year: The Upper Valley’s Mutual Aid Groups
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the Upper Valley, it brought an ever-lengthening list of questions and concerns. Would supplies of food and other essentials hold out? Where would those suddenly without income get help? ...more
Calling for Civil, Inclusive Communication & Interaction: Thoughts on January 6
As an organization that brings people together, bridging boundaries and engaging our whole community to create positive change, we were shocked and saddened by the images that came to us from Washington, DC, on Wednesday. ...more
That's Snow Excuse!
Don't be deterred by wet, cold or snow. Good times can be had when a-questing you go! Be sure to search our website Valley Quest page selecting for Season and Year Round to see what ...more
Have an Idea That Could Use a Lift?
New Hampshire Businesses, Farmers, Entrepreneurs, Nonprofits, Community Initiatives: Do you have an incredible project just waiting to happen? Want to grow your organization, our community, and the local economy, but don’t have access to capital? The Local Crowd ...more
Quest to Refresh Winners!
Congratulations to all the our participants in our Quest to Refresh Challenge! 28 teams took us up on the Challenge to get out and explore our Quests to beat the pandemic blues. Malcolm and Joseph Marchesi ...more
Why Bank Locally?
Where You Bank Makes a Difference! When you use a bank or credit union rooted in our community, you're making a conscious choice to support our local economy. Local First Champion member Mascoma Bank is a ...more
Weatherize Webinar, August 17
Weatherize Webinar with NHSaves Monday, August 17 at Noon Did Covid-19 stop your 2020 weatherization plans in their tracks? NOW is the right time to jump back on the weatherize band wagon. Lower energy bills and cozy ...more
Pick Your Own is OPEN ♥
Yes...Local as Usual, Safer than Ever. Pick Your Own strawberry farms opened this past weekend. Get out there and pick the delish! There is nothing like ripe berries. So good. Each berry that comes into season ...more
Berries: Delicious, versatile and in season now!
The Upper Valley berry season typically ranges from late June to early October. In our short, but fruitful season, we can enjoy raspberries and strawberries (although neither are technically real berries), then move into summer ...more
Welcome 31 New Upper Valley Change-makers
Vital Communities celebrated the graduation of the Leadership Upper Valley Class of 2020 on Wednesday, June 10. This event marked the program’s 14th graduating class, as 31 local leaders completed the 10-month program with a ...more
Five Inspiring Stories
On March 18, Vital Communities held a webinar featuring five inspiring stories from energy committees across the Upper Valley. Stories included: Electric charging stations in Bethel An Upper Valley eBike lending library Energy saving window ...more
13th Annual Roundtable - September 15
You're Invited! The 13th Annual Upper Valley Energy Committee Roundtable will be held Tuesday, September 15, 5-8 pm in West Lebanon! This annual gathering of local energy volunteers is open to all, whether you serve on an ...more
Stand in Your Circle of Strength and Lead
Ed. Note: On May 30, Vital Communities honored 12 community leaders who’ve added immeasurably to the vitality of the Upper Valley at its annual Heroes & Leaders Celebration. The following are the event’s keynote remarks ...more
Heroes & Leaders: Creating a Vital Upper Valley
Every spring, Leadership Upper Valley, a program of Vital Communities, hosts the annual Heroes & Leaders Celebration to recognize individuals who make significant contributions to the Upper Valley. In 2019, we are pleased to honor ...more
