A series of options are available for those who may no longer be able to safely drive the roads but still wish to maintain their independence.

Survey results from Home Instead Inc., a franchisor of Home Instead Senior Care network, show 95 percent of seniors have not talked to their loved ones about driving, and 31 percent have received a recommendation from family or friends to relinquish being on the road. Six hundred seniors were sampled.

“Seniors hate to lose that being able to drive and being independent,” Gail Williams, Loudon County Senior Center director, said. “That’s the only I think consideration for that — they hate to give that up.”


STAYinTV Rides Program coordinator Chris Garner said refusing to consider public transportation is a “dignity kind of thing.”

“It’s pride, dignity, whatever word you want to stick in there — people hate to admit that they’re down to having to ask for help,” Garner said. “... I’ve always done things for myself. I can always go to the grocery store. I can do this, I can do that and to finally admit that … ‘maybe I shouldn’t be pushing that chair over up against the wall and climbing up to change the batteries in a smoke alarm. Maybe I shouldn’t be — I’m OK driving around the Village going to church but I’ve got to go Parkwest. I don’t like going into Kingston Pike and definitely not the interstate,’ so you start to lose confidence in your abilities — and rightly so.”

Business ‘picked up’

In an effort to lend a helping hand to residents in Tellico Village, nonprofit organization STAYinTV started its driving program last year. Garner said trips were scarce in the beginning, only totaling 25 in 2015, but through May rides have picked up dramatically. Volunteers drove clients 61 times so far this year, and volunteer hours have roughly doubled that of 2015.

“The word’s just finally getting out and we’re still getting inquiries that don’t pan out,” Garner said. “... We have nine or 10 rides in May from this one guy going to some kind of therapy in Lenoir City. So you take him out and you still have a pretty good month.”

The program started when STAYinTV officials considered how they could keep Villagers in their homes, and realized top reasons for leaving were for physician appointments and transportation.

“We can provide better access to the medical stuff by providing rides for our people from Tellico Village ... and we go anywhere in the Knoxville area,” he said. “I’m going to say easily 90, if not 95 percent, of our stuff is doctors’ appointments.”

How the program works is someone calls and leaves a message at least a week ahead of a needed ride, with trips generally taking place 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The largest demographic utilizing the program so far has been women, Garner said.

“Surprisingly the number of people we go to have a car in the garage,” he said. “It’s a widow and she’s got a car in the garage. ... But they would rather have us drive them when they’re going out of the routine.”

Costs are relatively cheap for a personal driver, Garner said.

“A trip all the way to UT or into Maryville is $20 and could you get it cheaper?” Garner said. “Well, maybe with (East Tennessee Human Resource Agency), but I’m not sure with ETHRA you need to be there at 11 (a.m.) and ETHRA may want to pick you up at 8 (a.m.). When you get done with your appointment and you call them and tell them, ‘I’m ready to go,’ and they’ll say, ‘OK, we’ll get you at the next bus back by your place.’ You may sit and wait an hour or two hours.”

The program receives $1,000 annually from United Way of Loudon County to cover charges from a software program designed to help manage rides. Garner said STAYinTV may look for a cheaper option next year.

“We got money for ‘15 with the idea we were going to use it both for Tellico Village and for the county as a whole and then we worked some with Gail (Williams) last year to try to get their program county-wide and ... they’re only running four, five or six a month I think, and they’re handling that without getting involved in any kind of computer program,” Garner said.

For more information on the program, call 865-458-7084.

Knowing the services

Getting participation in the senior center’s program hasn’t been much of an issue, Williams said, noting some residents know when the time is right for them.

“We have had some seniors that come in here and drive and they’ll say, ‘OK, I’m done. Hang my keys up. I don’t feel safe driving anymore, so I’m going to use your transportation and things’,” Williams said. “You always have some that think they can still continue to drive and everything. The ones that come here and know about us, they know about our transportation and they say, ‘Oh, it’s a lot easier to go with you all. We can sit in the van and see where we’re going and don’t have to watch and everything’.”

Williams has overseen a transportation program at the Loudon County Senior Center for at least 32 years. Each week transportation manager Bobbie Breazeale picks up seniors for rides to appointments locally and in Knoxville, day trips around the community and even lunch at the center.

“We usually have four to five (riders) for our grocery shopping trips,” Williams said. “It just kind of varies from week to week and their doctor appointments. We have some that use us all the time for their doctor appointments and things. ... If our van’s busy, we — sometimes Bobbie calls and says, ‘Can you do it on a different day?’ If not, we check with our volunteers and try to find them a way. Of course, there’s the ETHRA service in the county.”

The goal is to ensure seniors have a means of transportation at all times, Williams said.

“So, we have three or four volunteers that we can call on that have signed up to do that if they aren’t as busy and we don’t have any way of transportation,” Williams said. “We always try to find them a way to take them to their doctors appointments or anything like that.”

Such a program is made possible through budget annual allocations of $3,000-$4,000 for gas and maintenance of a 2001 15-passenger van. Williams said the center is in the process of acquiring a 2016 van to be used for longer trips. Hopes are to keep the current van for shorter drives around the county.

For more information on the senior center, call 865-458-5445.