Regional dispatch center to aid seniors, disabled
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published May 25, 2005

A regional call and dispatch center for senior and disabled citizens transportation services, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, has opted to use some familiar names to get the new service off the ground.

F.I.R.S.T. (First Integrated Regional Senior Transportation Consortium) will be located in the old Horizons Activities Center building on Butternut Ridge Road in North Olmsted. It is adjacent to Kiwanis Club property, with that agency also backing the use of the old building to provide help for those in need.

The first director and coordinator will be Don Copeland, who is retiring next week after 30 years as director of the City of North Olmsted Department of Human Resources. And the centralized call and dispatch center will be using computers and software provided through the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority for setting up the programs designed to make sure transportation is found and sent out for senior citizens and disabled persons served by the groups participating in the F.I.R.S.T. partnership.

Workers have been busy renovating the building this month to prepare it for the installation of furnishings and equipment in the next several weeks.

"It's the first program of its kind in an urban setting in the country," said Copeland. "It will provide a much needed service for people and groups which need those kind of transportation services."

Copeland said word about the program is spreading. He said a presentation about it is being made at a national transportation services conference this week in St. Louis.

"We've got several groups from Cuyahoga County already participating in it and we've got a good possibility of others joining up," Copeland said.

Already included in the F.I.R.S.T. partnership group are NOCOP (the North Olmsted Commission on Paratransit, Inc.), which has served North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township for several years; QCP (Quality Communities Partnership Inc., which has Berea, Brookpark, Columbia Township, Middleburgh Heights, Olmsted Falls, Strongsville and Southwest General Health Center), and STS (Southeast Senior Transportation which has Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, the Jennings Center for Older Adults and Marymount Hospital).

New Avenues to Independence Inc., a non-profit group serving disabled citizens, has endorsed using the property to benefit disabled citizens. In addition, a presentation about it was made at a meeting of the Westshore Council of Governments earlier this month.

"It was very well-received," said North Olmsted Mayor Thomas O'Grady. "I'd say there is a good possibility you'll see some other cities and agencies taking part in it relatively soon. Mr. Copeland is very qualified to talk about and help organize the services for the organization. He's a very persuasive individual when it comes to providing help for those who need it."

O'Grady said having it placed in the old Horizons Center is appropriate.

"When the city bought it originally it was for use by seniors and disabled children," O'Grady said. "When it was empty, it was vandalized and we've had to fix it up a little. We're glad that it's going to be used for senior and disabled services again by having the call center for dispatching transportation in there. We've had good partners in the Kiwanis Club next door as well.'

Copeland said it was a case of North Olmsted having something that was needed at the right time.

"Southwest General (Health Center) was going to provide space but it didn't have enough room for all the operations and eventual expansion planned for it," Copeland said. "So, we got involved in finding a home for it. The city had been looking at what to do with the Butternut Ridge Property and this seemed to fit the plan to have it continue to provide needed services."

An $80,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation through the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners is helping get the center ready.

"It's a three-year renewable grant which has helped considerably," Copeland said.

He said F.I.R.S.T. is only the initial step in a countywide program designed to aid seniors called the Senior Transportation Connection of Cuyahoga County.

"That's another reason it's so important that we've been able to get several groups from throughout the county involved," Copeland said. "We'll be able to show how it can handle calls from all over and not just one small area."

A key component to handling those calls and then dispatching transportation is the computers and Trapeze software provided by RTA via a licensing extension. With an estimated value of $110,000, the RTA contribution was vital to a new non-profit service agency, Copeland said.

"We couldn't have afforded it on our own," said Copeland. "It was a very generous move by RTA officials."

RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese said helping out was a natural move for RTA.

"Part of our job is to provide services which aid the disabled and others in need," Calabrese said.

Both Copeland and Calabrese noted that the dispatch functions are supposed to move to an RTA facility as part of the Senior Transportation Connection work within the next few years.

"This is a good example of a variety of agencies coming together," Calabrese said.

North Olmsted Planning Director Kim Wenger said that cooperation will have long-term benefits.

"It's a great example of how regionalization can benefit the area in certain services," she said.

Copeland said the new center will be able to utilize experience already gained by participating groups like NOCOP in handling transportation needs. He said officials hope to have the full center operational sometime this fall.

"It's quite an undertaking but will provide something which will benefit a lot of people," he said.