BUCYRUS – Changes are underway at the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities Waycraft division which include a new mobility manager.
Jackie Cole recently took over the position that Waycraft director Vince Ponziani was filling.
“The mobility manager position moved and is now under the Waycraft umbrella,” Cole said.
Cole’s first mission is to find ways through coordination and collaboration with local partners to eliminate transportation barriers for Crawford County residents.
“The purpose of the Coordinated Plan is to identify any unmet needs and gaps in the current transportation systems within our county. The Crawford Transportation Collaborative (CTC) is a partnership between Waycraft and several agencies throughout the county,” Cole said.
Those agencies include CONTACT Crawford County, Crawford County Jobs and Family Services, Crawford County Family and Children First Council, Restore Ministries of Wesley Chapel, the Crawford Office of The Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission, The Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development, Crawford County Council on Aging and The Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
The Crawford County Council on Aging is the public transportation agency for the county.
“Even though we partner with these different groups the CTC is a separate entity of Public Transportation. We are often the last resort for area residents who need transportation. I try to offer different resources to meet the need,” Cole said. “The Mobility Manager is directed by the state to focus on three main populations of the county: senior citizens, low-income families and individuals with a disability; however, we support all the county residents who need solutions to transportation needs.”\
The CTC is funded by an 80-20 grant managed by the Ohio Department of Transportation through the Federal Transit Administration.
“We would like to thank the Crawford County Board of Developmental Disabilities for being our local match for the first two years of the grant. As we look forward to the next grant year we hope that our partners will help with the local match,” Cole said.
Cole said that once The Coordinated Plan and the grant is accepted in the fall, she will be having monthly meetings to coordinate with the residents and the county agencies to work on solutions for the transportation that the community is faced with every day.
Some of the struggles Cole is faced with include getting people to doctor’s appointments, dialysis and other medical appointments.
“We are currently looking to add to our volunteer database. There are several ways that people needing a ride can contact us as well as people wanting to make a difference in the community by becoming a volunteer driver,” said Cole.
Contact Cole at 419-563-0550 or through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mobilityforCTC or our website http://ctcmobility.org.
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