Nonprofits in Connecticut’s quiet northeast corner are collaborating to find ways to improve the region's transportations problems.
On Thursday, members of the Nonprofit Alliance of Northeast Connecticut (NANC) brought together a wide range of local organizations to examine how regional transit resources can be modified, or even explore creating new methods.
Kathleen Krider, senior director of Community Engagement Access at Community Action Agency, led the brainstorming session, calling it a “hackathon” — borrowing the term from the computer engineering field.
“So, Hack CT is what we hope to scale up and out into Connecticut,” Krider said. “So, we’re creating something that can be replicated and then it can be a roadshow. This can be given to other communities, whether it’s a transportation hack, whether it’s a different problem a community needs to solve.”
Krider said they’ve turned to this model to try and fix this rural area’s limited bus, taxi and ride-sharing services that vulnerable residents rely on for medical appointments and weekly shopping.
For example, Allison Heneghan, director of communications and development at Generations Family Health Centers in Willimantic, said their patients are faced with taking time off from their hourly jobs, and waiting long hours for bus services.
“So, our patients struggle to get to their appointments, to get to specialty appointments because of the lack of transportation, or if they’re able to get transportation it doesn’t run in a timely manner,” Heneghan said. “That’s not acceptable for their health or for their income.”
In the fall, the NANC plans to hold a three-day event to involve local legislators and private funders in the hopes of improving transportation options for those living in rural communities.
“If Connecticut as a state understands what a hack is and can roll up their sleeves and dive into a hackathon-based way of doing something, Connecticut is on its way to solving its problems,” Krider said.
