Phil

Phil had friends who had received services from Faith in Action, and because he was aware of how the agency's volunteers had helped, he had made a donation from time to time to the agency.

He didn't think he'd become a client himself until he had a diagnosis of kidney failure. Now, he needed transportation to the NW Kidney Center's facility at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital three times a week for dialysis. He started by asking his friends for rides, but it quickly became too much of a burden for them.

One of Faith in Action's dedicated volunteers, Cindy, had been driving a client for dialysis three times a week for many years, but the client died. Margie, Faith in Action's Volunteer Coordinator, asked if she was ready to take on a new client. She said yes.

Phil is now getting a ride, three days a week, from Cindy. Since the dialysis takes 6 hours, Cindy does not stay to take him back. Instead, he rides back home on Metro Transit's ACCESS bus. His experience using ACCESS shows the problems with this service for our clients - some times it takes the bus three hours to make what is in a private car, a 20 minute ride.

Faith in Action would like to be able to provide him with dedicated transportation home, too, but volunteers like Cindy, who are willing to drive so frequently and regularly, are rare. And he does have transportation back, through ACCESS - just not transportation that is timely.

Our goal at Faith in Action is to ensure that every client, every caller, gets the help that he or she needs. We are striving to find volunteers for people like Phil - so he has a ride not just to dialysis, but home again, to promote his health, and give him a better quality of life.

For more information, see: Faith in Action - Supporting Senior Independence