Fifty years ago, a group of service-minded residents created a group called Friends In Service Here, or FISH. Its objective was to provide rides to fellow Newtown residents who needed to get to the hospital for a non-emergency visit, a doctor’s appointment, or another medical location for an appointment when those residents could not drive themselves or had no other means of transportation.

FISH’s foundation in 1969 meant rides were available to all Newtown residents, regardless of age.

FISH asked for donations from those who sought rides, and relied for years on volunteers to provide the rides as needed.

When COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, FISH was among those to put its services on hold. FISH President Colleen Honan recently said that the temporary stop has turned into the permanent dissolution of the service organization.

“We celebrated our 50th year of operation in October 2019,” Honan recently told The Newtown Bee. “We had a dinner at Newtown Country Club with our drivers, and First Selectman Dan Rosenthal came and thanked us for our many years of volunteering.”

At the time, FISH had 20 full-time drivers, and another 26 substitute drivers it could count on, she said. In addition to Honan, FISH’s final officers included Vice President Roberta Ahuja, Secretary & Scheduler Elaine Landau, and Treasurer Fred Stakel.

As COVID continues to linger like a really bad cold, however, drivers began aging out, she said. Most FISH volunteers were retirees who had time in the middle of work days to help others get to appointments.

“We just don’t have enough people available any longer,” Honan said.

With that realization, Honan and other board members approached the Town of Newtown to let the local officials know that one longstanding service was going away.

The donations collected over the years by FISH will be donated to the Town, Honan said.

“We often had people who were so grateful for the help that they gave more than the suggested $5 donation,” she said. “We will be giving all of those funds to the town.”

The funds will be earmarked for transportation assistance, she said, for anyone who needs it.

“We never said people had to be senior citizens for us to help them,” she noted.

Those who needed rides were not always those with financial needs, either, she added.

“Sometimes people just needed a ride, and didn’t have anyone to help them, for whatever reason,” Honan said.

“We gave them the Town client list,” Honan also said. “They had the manpower, and they called everyone to check and see how they were getting along. They checked to make sure people were able to get to their doctor appointments.”

Calling On SweetHART

Natalie Jackson, the director of human services for Newtown, said those calls to residents let them know they were not forgotten during the pandemic. The calls also started letting people know who to call for help with rides, she said.

The pandemic stopped people from being able to safely drive strangers in their vehicles. It did not stop the need for people to get to medical appointments, however.

“We’re not yet driving,” she said, “but we are doing a lot of brainstorming to find the most feasible option for people.”

Senior citizens and disabled residents have always needed help, she said.

“We’ve always fielded calls for rides,” Jackson said, “but one of our options had been to call on FISH.”

Danbury-based SweetHART Dial-A-Ride is now one of the lead organizations Jackson and others are counting on for rides, Mondays through Saturdays. The door-to-door transportation service, according to its website, is for regional residents age 65 and older and another with a mobility disability.

SweetHART Dial-A-Ride offers rides for Newtown residents, by appointment, weekdays between 7 am and 4:15 pm and Saturdays between 8:15 am and 4:15 pm.

Rides are $1 each way for most riders, $3 each way for ADA Paratransit if reserved in advance. Fees increase to $4 if booked for same-day rides, when possible. A 10-ride Punch Pass is also available for $9 (most riders) and $27 (ADA Paratransit).

Applications must be submitted through HART’s website, hartransit.com/dial-ride. Town employees may also be able to help with applications.

Transportation Survey

Transportation around Newtown and the region for non-drivers has long been a critical need. Ongoing local enhancements ramped up four years ago, when Newtown was inducted as Connecticut’s second municipality in AARP’s (American Association of Retired Persons) national network of “Livable Communities.”

One of AARP’s livability standards concerns transportation, which FONS (Friends of Newtown Seniors) has put much effort toward improving.

Most recently FONS — working with Newtown Human Services, the town’s Commission on Aging, Hart Bus, Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, and Western Connecticut Council of Governments (WestCOG) — conducted a survey. Newtown residents age 55 and over were asked to participate in the survey, which asked responders to identify their needs and requirements, and express concerns with current offerings.

The survey was to close in late November, but was extended to December 15. Residents had the option of participating online, through Survey Monkey, or picking up a hard copy of the survey from a few in-town locations.

On December 17, Natalie Jackson confirmed that FONS members were entering the data from the surveys done by hand so that all data could be sorted and researched.

“Once they’ve finished entering the manual surveys, they will begin looking at the data,” Jackson said. “Then WestCOG, and others, will look at and crunch the data.”

In the meantime, she said, she and other Town employees will continue to work with residents “to brainstorm ideas” when rides are needed.

“We want to help people who need rides,” she said.

Residents who need a ride to the hospital for a non-emergency visit, a doctor’s office appointment, or other necessary medical appointments should contact the Town of Newtown Department of Social/Human Services (203-270-4330) or Newtown Senior Center (203-270-4310) for guidance.

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Associate Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.