WAMC New York News
(2009-06-25)
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HUDSON VALLEY, NY
(WAMC) -
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It's bad enough to be job hunting in this economy - worse still if you don't have wheels. Hudson Valley bureau chief Susan barnett looks at programs in Dutchess, columbia and Greene Counties...counties with transportation challenges and workers who need jobs.
Dutchess, Columbia and Greene counties - they have different obstacles, but they share a similar geographical challenge. They each have limited urban centers and sprawling rural areas. With jobless rates rising, the social services departments in each county use funds under the Wheels for Work program in different ways.
In Dutchess County, they give away cars. They've been doing it for ten years. First, they tried adding bus routes, but that just didn't work well.
That left people off the bus route who wanted to work but had no transportation out in the cold. So Dutchess County teamed up with BOCES.
The county developed a course to help people get their licenses, learn how to maintain a car, and mandated budgeting training. After the fine tuning, Social Services commissioner Bob Allers says the program is working.
Dutchess County gave away 22 cars this week. In Greene County, they don't donate cars, but they use their transportation aid funds to help pay off pre-screened and approved cars loans. The program makes sense for Greene County, because cars are the only option in that area.
In NYC, cars aren't part of the program at all. Instead, qualifying clients get subway and bus tokens. Paul Mossman, social services commissioner in Columbia County, wishes it was that simple for the people he works with.
Some big retail stores are moving in, but they can't hire everyone who's been displaced as business moves out of Columbia county. Social services tries to arrange retraining. And they have to take each case and problem solve...perhaps reimbursing someone for car pooling, perhaps organizing car pools through an employer, maybe paying for new tires on a worker's car or helping with insurance bills.
With Albany just a half hour away, from one end of the county, it would seem that Columbia county residents could look for work there. But that's a long way from the other end of the county, and even at its closest point, it's a long way if you can't find transportation.
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