Easy Lift Transportation has been named the Top Paratransit for California for 2017 by the California Association of Coordinated Transportation (CalACT).
The award recognizes transit programs focused on serving frail seniors and people living with severe disabilities.
This is the first such honor for Easy Lift, a nonprofit based in Santa Barbara and now in its 39th year serving south Santa Barbara County.
CalACT recognized Easy Lift for its efficiency, innovative transit solutions, financial stability and community collaboration.
CalACT is the largest state transit association in the U.S., with some 300 members dedicated to promoting professional excellence, stimulating ideas, and advocating for effective community transportation.
Known for its Dial-A-Ride program, started by the local Easter Seals chapter and Community Action Commission, Easy Lift has become a focal community transit resource offering the community multiple services.
Programs like Children’s Accessible Transportation provide free and low-cost transit to other nonprofit organizations with limited means to offer their own transit options.
This program, in partnership with the Orfalea Foundation and supported by the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara, has provided 50,000 rides, saving other nonprofits tens of thousands of dollars they can use for scholarships and other program expenses.
Ernesto Paredes, Easy Lift executive director, now in his 24th year with Easy Lift, emphasized the strength of community partners and supporters, and cited the 1990s as a particularly transitional time for Easy Lift.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act had just passed, but fortunately partners like MTD and Montecito Bank & Trust were there, and are still important partners today,” Paredes said.
“Our strength as an organization is our drivers. They have to be some of the most caring and compassionate individuals I have ever met. I would trust any of our drivers to transport my own mother, and they do,” he said.
In 2019, Easy Lift will celebrate its 40th anniversary and launch initiatives, programs and services to address the continuous developments in transportation like Uber, Lyft, driverless cars and drones, and to improve access to healthcare and programs serving people who are food insecure.
Easy Lift Transportation provides a variety of specialized transportation-related services for the south Santa Barbara community and is sole provider of Dial-a-Ride services in south Santa Barbara County. Learn more at www.easylift.org or call 681-1181.
— Jennifer Goddard for Easy Lift Transportation.