Every community needs the service which Quinte Access provides, said director of operations Nadyne Mattis.
Quinte Access offers specialized transportation to people with disabilities and seniors in Quinte West, Brighton, and throughout Prince Edward Hastings County. They also run a public transit system that runs through the main streets of Trenton.
“People are going where they need to be, and with dignity,” said Mattis.
She has been working for the organization since its establishment in 1990.
“It’s really come a long way in the past 25 years,” she said, noting how much the service has expanded since its humble beginnings, when there were only a handful of individuals working.
Both Mattis and Betty Miller, one of the program’s drivers, said that the best part of the program is the close relationships that develop between drivers and clients.
“We’ve been invited to birthday parties and to funerals,” Miller said. “You get so attached.”
Funding for Quinte Access comes partially from the municipality, who funds their regular workday hours. Their remaining hours – overtime and weekends – are funded by donations from the community. They also hold fundraising events such as BBQs and 50/50s in order to raise even more funds. According to Mattis, there is an enormous amount of community support for the program.
“I find it incredible,” she said. “I look at the list of people and it’s amazing.”
Miller has been driving buses for 15 years, and has been working for Quinte Access for six of those years. This is her favourite job by far, she said.
“I call it my dream job.”