Just like the United States Postal Service, Sheila Sloan-Evans is on the job rain or shine, sleet or snow.

As travel programs manager for Redmond-based Hopelink, she is part of a team that helps clients navigate King County using public transportation and other services. And when it snows like it has this week, Sloan-Evans must be available to anyone with questions about how to get around in the inclement weather.

Sloan-Evans has been with Redmond-based Hopelink for six years but has only been in her current position since August 2011. The human services organization was able to create the job she holds now as a result of $786,778 in grant money from the federal government.

These dollars will also go toward funding a number of existing and new transportation programs at Hopelink through June 2013.

FILLING TRANSPORTATION GAPS

Sloan-Evans said one of their existing programs that will benefit from the grant money is Getting Around Puget Sound (GAPS).

This program connects residents in King County with volunteer travel trainers who offer one-on-one assistance at community centers, libraries and other gathering places throughout the county.

Woodinville resident Mary Holt is a GAPS volunteer and spends two hours on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month at the Redmond Senior Center (RSC) at 8703 160th Ave. N.E. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on these days, she answers questions, distributes informational brochures and bus schedules and helps people get ORCA cards. Holt also helps people plan trips using public transportation and other services available to them and fill out applications to receive a reduced fare, which is available to senior citizens and individuals with disabilities.

Holt has been volunteering for about eight months and said it has taken a bit of time for visitors at the RSC to know who she is and what she does. But it has paid off as she has gone from one or two people approaching her during a single shift to about a dozen.

“It gets better and more interesting every time I go,” she said. “It’s really satisfying when I can show someone a route.”

Holt added that the people she meets with are usually deciding to stop driving and she helps them learn what their transportation options are.

While GAPS is very much a volunteer-based program, someone has to show them what to do, which is where Sloan-Evans plays a role.

“I provide training for volunteers to go out into the community,” she said.

Sloan-Evans said with the grant money, they will work to expand GAPS. Currently, they have volunteers in six different communities throughout the Eastside and Shoreline. At the end of the month, Hopelink will add Lake Forest Park to its roster and continue to expand throughout King County.

WORKING TOGETHER

Michelle Zeidman, mobility manager for Hopelink, said they also work with other organizations such as social service agencies, medical providers and other community organizations to provide free training for their staff.

She said this Travel Ambassadors program empowers other agencies to help their clients directly, “rather than have everyone call (Hopelink).”

In addition to helping other organizations, Zeidman said Hopelink is also part of the King County Mobility Coalition (KCMC). This brings together individual advocates, agencies and other parties to address transportation issues and find ways to improve things. Zeidman said KCMC promotes dialogue and collaboration among the different parties involved.

There are also smaller groups throughout the county that serve their respective geographical areas such as the Eastside Easy Rider Collaborative (EERC) and focus on specific issues affecting these areas. Zeidman said the federal money they received will help them expand to south King County and staff the north King County group.

NEW PROGRAMS

With all of these programs, Zeidman said they work closely with both King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit.

This is especially true with Hopelink’s Ride Around the Sound (RAS) program. RAS was created through the federal grant money and offers free group excursions on public transit.

“The goal is for people to get familiar … to take down the scare factor,” Zeidman said.

She said this program focuses on immigrant and refugee populations as well as veterans, those with limited English and low-income populations. Zeidman added that interpreters will also be available if needed.

Hopelink is working with other social service agencies in the area to organize these trips and said a few destination examples include hospitals and medical centers, the airport and other service centers.

“We’re really open on the destination,” Zeidman said.

Additionally, the federal grant money will help fund a couple of technological programs. The first involves installing transportation kiosks in medical facilities throughout King County. Zeidman said these kiosks would be free-standing computer stations where people can access bus schedules, real-time bus arrival times and other information. There will be a total of 10 kiosks installed, but as Hopelink has just received the money, Zeidman said it will take about a year of planning before the kiosks are installed.

Four more kiosks will be installed in locations that specifically serve veterans.

The final new program is a one-stop access website and smart phone application.

Zeidman said she is excited to see where Hopelink will go from here with all of the different transportation programs and services they offer (all free). And while it is important to offer them, she said it is just as important to get the word out about these programs to the public.

“Services are kind of pointless if no one knows about them,” she said.