WEBER COUNTY, Utah — Concerns with a dwindling budget have downsized a popular senior program in Weber County that helped take seniors to the grocery store, doctors' appointments and more.
For over 30 years, Weber Human Services has offered "The Ride,” a program that helps transport seniors to the grocery store, doctors’ appointments, the bank, senior centers and others.
Starting July, seniors will not be able to call for a ride to places they need to go.
"Instead of us hiring people, having a fleet of vehicles, doing it all ourselves, moving it over to Lyft or Uber model which will be different for seniors, and we have a lot of education that we need to do,” explained Michelle Jenson, chief financial officer at Weber Human Services.
Molly Walkeronice is 86 and has been using the program for years.
"It’s a wonderful thing to have, you know. If I ever need to go somewhere, especially the grocery store, I just call them up and tell them what day I want, and they'll give me the ride," said Walkeronice.
She has lost sleep since learning the program won’t be the same. The department is planning to prioritize just medical-related rides.
"I don’t know what we would do without them, because we old people we need The Ride,” she said.
"It is one of those optional things that has been wonderful for our community, but now we need those dollars over on the behavioral health side to match Medicaid,” explained Jenson.
They understand the value of the program but just can’t support it the same way anymore.
"It’s hard to make these decisions because it affects people's lives,” said Kevin Eastman, Chief Executive Officer of Weber Human Services.
The program is funded through county appropriation.
Walkeronice is worried about what this means for her being able to get around.
"I have a lot of medical problems, and I don’t think I could do much of anything anymore, not at my age."
Weber Human Services said they are working on ways to contract with community partners and figure out ways to help this population get the services they need.
