Steve Schmidt, Union-Tribune
The day she turned 90, Helen McGirr of Clairemont gave someone else a present. She turned over her red Honda Civic to a granddaughter. “I don’t think someone 90 years old or so should drive,” McGirr, now 92, said recently. “Our reflexes aren’t as good, our eyesight and hearing aren’t as good.”
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Overflow Crowd Turns Out For Forum
San Diego–
Katherine Freund, President and Founder of ITNAmerica, was the featured speaker at a public forum held today before an overflow crowd of 140 seniors and individuals who learned about a new senior transportation. Among today’s attendees were Pam Smith, Director of San Diego County’s Office of Aging and Independence Services and City Councilman Brian Maienschein, representing the City/County partnership instrumental in providing start up funding for the San Diego initiative.
The Independent Transportation Network® (ITN) is for individuals 60 or over, as well as those who are visually impaired. ITN is a membership organization offering rides around the clock, seven days/week, for any purpose within the service area. Fares are generally half the price of a taxi, and rides are provided by volunteer or paid drivers using private automobiles only.
ITN is the first and only national non profit transportation system for America’s aging population. The ITN model marries the power of information technology and the strength of local voluntary support to create an efficient and financially sustainable solution to the transportation needs of seniors and their families. Begun in Portland, Maine, 15 years ago, the ITN model is rapidly taking root in communities across the country — from Los Angeles to Orlando and communities in between.
Freund was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal article, “12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement: These pioneers are shaping the way Americans will live, work and play later in life” (2/16/08).
Partners sponsoring the launch of ITNSanDiego include the City of San Diego and San Diego County’s Aging and Independence Services (AIS). ITNSanDiego is targeted to begin operations in Fall 2008. Neighborhoods in the initial service area include University City, Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, De Anza Cove, Linda Vista, Mission Valley, Serra Mesa, Clairemont and Sorrento Valley. Service will be expanded in the future.
To learn more about ITNSanDiego, please call Chuck Overbey at (619) 298-2903 or email info@ITNSanDiego.org. To read more about ITN or Katherine Freund, visit www.ITNAmerica.org.
San Diego, CA–
Check presentation of $65,000 from the City of San Diego to the San Diego Center for the Blind, sponsoring agency for ITNSanDiego. Pictured (left to right) are Chuck Overbey, Project Coordinator, City of San Diego Councilman Brian Maienschein, Kim Gibbens, Executive Director, SDCB, Floyd Willis, San Diego County Aging and Independence Services.
