State boost for SCM more than keeping it afloat - now it can expand
By S.H. Bagley, Somerville Journal
May 20, 2008
Somerville - Money earmarked by Carl Sciortino, D-Medford, for Somerville's SCM Community Transportation will allow the senior transport agency to expand, Executive Director Reed Cochran said.
"We're trying to create a new business model," Cochran said. "The money is to help us build something that survives."
The money troubles at SCM aren't a secret. Last year the same amount of money was secured from the state to help SCM out.
"We get checks every day from our riders," Cochran said, "for two dollars, or four dollars, with notes saying I wish I could send you more."
But rather than spend another year barely making ends meet and driving Somerville, Cambridge, and Medford's elderly population to the doctor, Cochran wants to turn SCM into a portal for seniors to get out and enjoy life.
That's a new lease on life for 3000 people from Somerville, Cambridge and Medford, who use the free service to get rides to medical appointments and grocery stores, if they book them two weeks ahead of time. But Cochran hopes over the next several years to recreate SCM as a service to take seniors to art galleries, plays, concerts and shopping. "Getting out of the house is about having a life," Cochran said. "Our long term vision is to take you anywhere you want to go."
And at least one rider hopes SCM sticks around for the long haul. Elizabeth McGowan, 67, who has used SCM twice a month for the last four years, said the company was invaluable to her and her family. "I swear by them," she said. "That's the only way I could visit my husband, when he was in rehab in Woburn."
Without SCM, McGowan said, she would hardly be able to get anywhere. She can't afford cab rides, she said, adding, "I have family who could give me rides here and there, but they're not always reliable, because they work."
Cambridge resident Erna Benjamin, 91, said she uses SCM's ride once a month for medical visits and every two weeks for grocery shopping. "When I first started, when I was just about 85 or so, I could go to medical things on the bus. I'm getting more frail, so it's not that easy," Benjamin said.
Benjamin, like McGowan, said she could not rely on family members to drive her around the city because they work during the day. She said she would use SCM's ride to go shopping if she could. "I used to go shopping, to the dress and clothing stores. I can't do that now. If I take the buses or the subway, I'd get exhausted after one store."
Cambridge's Francis Saunders, who would not reveal her age, said if SCM stopped running, "I don't even want to think about it."
In the House budget, Sciortino earmarked $100,000 to SCM for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. He and the rest of the reps from Somerville and Medford set aside just as much last year, but Sciortino said he did not think the money would go to SCM annually. "This was a shot in the arm," he said.
Cochran calls the money "a safety net." SCM's annual budget rings in around $1.6 million, which covers drivers' salaries, vehicle upkeep, employee pay and other operational costs. "The last time, we used [state funding] to pay critical debts, and keep the plane flying," Cochran said.
Or, in other terms, keep the engine running. SCM spent $204,000 on fuel last year, about $17,000 a month. And Cochran fears it's going to get worse. "I'm spending almost a quarter of a million dollars on fuel," she said. "When gas goes up a dollar a month, my costs go up $5,000."
The 27 vans on the road are all by Ford, bought by Cochran acknowledged the company is in financial trouble.
Federal block grant money has been cut steadily over the last four years. SCM
got $85,000 from the feds in 2003, but last year, $67,000. It took them three years to get more money from the
federally funded Medicaid program, "and guess what? It's been wiped out by fuel
[cost] increases." The Medicaid money determines how many vans SCM
can have on the road during peak hours, from 7
to 9 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. Less money from Medicaid means fewer cars on
the road. Despite the decrease in federal funding, Cochran said, no
city SCM covers has ever cut their funding.
"I do think the mayor and the city deserve kudos. They have always gone to the
wall to preserve the funding," Cochran said. "It's really heart-breaking," Cochran said.