With an established partnership with American Rescue Workers and new support through a Veterans’ Trust Fund grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, STEP Transportation can offer veterans transportation for a wide variety of activities.
Dan Merk, STEP Transportation Director, stated: “Access to health care facilities and other locations which support daily life activities can be a burden to many veterans because of a lack of suitable transportation. Many veterans do not fit into traditional transportation funding pockets. This pilot funding allows STEP to provide transportation services to those veterans so that they have increased access to health care and those daily life activities.”
Eligible trips include going to both Wilkes Barre and Altoona veterans’ facilities as well as grocery stores, pharmacies, education facilities, libraries, CareerLink, job interviews, court dates, food banks, social services, Social Security, recreation, and the DMV. Other medical facilities are also eligible, including UPMC and Geisinger facilities in Lycoming, Clinton, Montour, Union, Northumberland, and Centre counties.
To optimize the use of veterans-specific funds, more general funding streams such as Medical Assistance, Office of Aging, and Americans with Disabilities Act will be considered first. If the trip cannot be completed using those sources, the Veterans Transportation Program funding will be utilized.
If you or a veteran you know needs transportation, you can call STEP Transportation at 570.323.7575, or email trcenter@stepcorp.org. For eligibility, you must be able to document your veteran status (i.e., DD-214).
STEP Transportation is part of the Independent Living Pathway.
