In the Athens News special section this week, I found two articles dealing with transportation for folks with developmental disabilities in Athens County. The first article reported on a pilot program called Athens On Demand Transit (AODT) that is designed to help people with DD and the elderly to get to appointments and other events not related to services already supplied by the ACBDD.
I am impressed and encouraged that such services exist in Athens County. I am vaguely aware that there is a network of support for people with disabilities in Athens County, but--with the region being so poor--I am surprised to learn just how strong and supportive that network is. According to the article, three different agencies (ACBDD, DD Council, HAPCAP) partnered cooperatively to make this program a reality. That's incredible! I was also impressed that the program is available to seniors, who are often a forgotten group. The second, shorter article discussed briefly the existing transportation available in Athens County for people headed to existing ACBDD programming. Again, the resources (several buses, vans, and cars) dedicated to helping people with disabilities is impressive. I'm sure there are still issues related to using the services, but I find the fact that such a poor county has such thorough and thoughtful support to be encouraging.
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