Volunteers needed after arrival of van for Swift Current long-term care residents
Volunteers are needed to assist with various tasks to provide a wheelchair accessible vehicle service for long-term care residents at The Meadows in Swift Current.
The brand-new van arrived in Swift Current on Feb. 15 after a successful fundraising campaign by Silver Wings Access Van Inc (SWAVI), a registered non-profit organization of volunteers that was established to eliminate transportation barriers for The Meadows residents by fundraising for and operating a fully accessible van.
SWAVI Treasurer Karen Nybo Wiens said the arrival of the van was an exciting moment and their efforts are now focused on preparations to put the vehicle in service.
“We’re just really busy trying to get things up and running with it right now,” she noted. “Lots of people are really champing at the bit to use it, but we want to make sure it’s going to be the safest and we have everything in place. It’s still not quite ready to be booked out, but we’re close.”
The van has capacity for up to eight passengers and a key feature of its interior layout is the flexible configuration. It can accommodate four people in standard-sized wheelchairs and four people in van seats, but floor track grids offer different options to arrange seats and wheelchairs of different sizes.
The fundraising campaign during 2023 was a great success due to the support of the community, which made it possible to reach the $140,000 target in September and to order the van.
There were some significant donations from the Kinsmen Foundation Telemiracle ($40,000), Innovation Federal Credit Union ($25,000) and Bumper to Bumper Great West Auto Electric ($10,000) that are recognized with logos on the van.
SWAVI appreciates these and all other donations that made it possible to reach the fundraising target.
“It was all the community and we want to thank them for donating,” she said. “Every little bit counted. We never thought that we would be getting the money that quickly.”
The wheelchair accessible van will offer opportunities for The Meadows residents to do things that were not possible before. It will mean going to a medical appointment without worrying about how to get there, to visit the mall or go to a variety of events in the community and attend family events.
“They have to book it, but they’ll be able to come and go to their activities,” she said. “Our van is going to be accessible to many different sizes of wheelchairs. We have people that have never been able to get out and go to the mall, because there was never a van available that their wheelchair would fit in due to the size or the shape of it. So this will be huge for some people. They’ve been out around the building, but actually to get out to either an event or to even just go shopping is huge.”
This will become a reality as soon as all the details for the use of the van have been worked out and are put in place.
“We’ve been working really hard since the van arrived,” she said. “We actually were quite surprised at the amount of work that still needs to be done. We’re getting very close, but we’ve been really busy getting policies and procedures into place, as well as our booking system, getting our approved drivers into place, all those kinds of things.”
SWAVI is looking for more volunteers to assist with different tasks related to the operation of the van. There is a need for drivers, passenger attendants, board and committee members as well as volunteers to assist with booking and administrative support.
There will be an online booking system through the SWAVI website as well as an option to book the van by phone. Phone messages will have to be checked a couple of times a day and booking details will have to be confirmed.
“Even with the automated online system, you still have to have a person confirming things with them,” Nybo Wiens explained. “We need to still confirm that the booking is available, that there’s a driver and that there is somebody to ride in a van with them. So there’s a lot of background and admin type of work.”
There are committees for different tasks, including social media, community support and fundraising. There will be ongoing expenses associated with the operation of the van, varying from website hosting fees to insurance and vehicle maintenance costs and the purchase of winter tires.
“So there’s going to be ongoing support that’s required,” she said. “We’re just very thankful we’ve had so much pouring out of support so far from the community and hopefully that’s going to continue.”
Family members of The Meadows residents are encouraged to become approved drivers, but additional volunteer drivers are also needed. All drivers will have to comply with certain requirements before they can use the van.
“We don’t have a driver that’s hired,” she said. “This is all going to be volunteer, but having the family members involved and driving their own family members around would be a wonderful opportunity. Then they don’t have to wait for somebody else to be available to take their family member.”
All drivers must have a clean driver’s abstract and valid driver’s license. They need to complete online training, which is basically a safety video with relevant details, and they must attend in-person van securement training. An additional requirement for non-family volunteer drivers is the provision of a clear criminal record check and vulnerable sector check.
“You can get that done very quickly at the RCMP station,” she said. “We give you a letter from Silver Wings Access Van stating that you are needing this for a non-profit organization and then the fee is waived.”
SWAVI already held in-person training sessions for drivers. The size of each group will be limited to three to four individuals at a time, because they have to be in the van and do the training in a hands-on manner.
“It’s not actually the driving itself that you’re being trained on,” she explained. “You’re being trained on the seatbelt and the securing of the wheelchairs and using the lift. You don’t have to have any special driver’s license. So there has been a couple of sessions, but we’re waiting to get more people to drive in order to set up some more sessions.”
A fairly small group of volunteers are currently carrying out the various tasks and their goal is therefore to recruit more helping hands.
“We are hoping to get a nice big pool of volunteers, because we don’t want to burn people out,” she said. “We’re just asking and wanting to reach out for any kind of help that someone can give us right now.”
For more information or to become a volunteer, send an e-mail to silverwingsvan@gmail.com or contact SWAVI through its Facebook page or website.