Birthdays

S.C.A.T.

2

Birthdays

2

Our  Fall Festival

3

Disappointment at the YMCA

3

New Resident

4

Fall Festival Pumpkin Decorating Contest

4

Remembering 9-11

5

Recipes

6-7

Bell House Board and News Paper Staff

8

Bell House Wish List

9

Fall/Winter 2006 Edition
Text Box: The City of Greensboro's paratransit system, otherwise known as SCAT (Specialized Community Accessible Transportation) has been on all our minds here at Bell House ever since the beginning of June. The biggest problem that residents of Bell House face with SCAT is that the Greensboro Transit Authority (GTA), which oversees the paratransit service seems determined to raise our fares to unreasonable levels. SCAT, as a result of being approximately $700,000. in the red is wanting to more than double our transportation costs, as well as, doing away with the $35.00 unlimited monthly pass which I thought was very reasonable. The Greensboro Transit Authority has offered us the ultimatum of $72.00 for 60 rides which boils down to $1.20 per ride. The reason that we have constantly been at odds with Greensboro City Council over the last couple of months is that we will have difficulty affording that drastic of a fare increase! Bell House residents receive only a $66.00 stipend from the state of NC each month to cover everyday expenses. This basically means that some of my friends may just be out of luck in terms of finding affordable and reliable transportation. In my mind, this is totally unfair and degrading to the disabled citizens of Greensboro! I along with all of my friends living at Bell House are having difficulty figuring out the reasons why SCAT is in such strong denial towards the idea of raising the fares in smaller increments over a period of a few years, which I feel would be more appropriate in dealing with a population of citizens with limited incomes. Even though I'm not sure what the ultimate outcome of SCAT and the proposed rate increase will be, I remain committed towards advocating for affordable and reliable paratransit service so that citizens with physical disabilities or other ailments that make it difficult to ride the city bus can still remain productive and thrive in the Greensboro community in the years to come. I strongly believe that with diligence and hard work that disabled citizens within this community will successfully achieve adequate and affordable transportation services ! Personally, I will continue to speak out and fight for my rights until my voice is heard and a fair resolution has been reached. By: Andrew Blythe

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Text Box: S.C.A.T