Our Story
Barbara Workman, Chuck Overbey and Floyd Willis
The roots of ITNSanDiego can be traced to 2003 when Barbara Workman's husband Bill died in a car accident on a hilly two-lane canyon road, less than two miles from home. An 82-year old woman was driving down the road and lost control of her car. She hit the gas instead of the brakes.
Older adults urgently need reliable and affordable transportation.
Three years later, Barbara read an article about the Independent Transportation Network® (ITN) in her local newspaper. She said, "It seemed like a very good idea to provide transportation for seniors who should no longer be driving... and it still seems like a good idea."
In true grassroots fashion, Barbara, a retired high school administrative secretary, sent in an application to establish an affiliate. Barbara's story resembles that of Katherine Freund, the founder of ITN, whose 3 year old son was run over by an 84 year old driver who thought he'd hit a dog. (Katherine's son survived a traumatic brain injury.)
Both women understood that crashes caused by older drivers were the result of a transportation system that wasn't meeting the needs of an aging population. And both women were determined to change that.
The first thing Barbara needed to do was find a partner. Floyd Willis of Aging & Independence Services turned out to be the perfect person. He had heard Katherine speak in 2006 at a meeting of the Older Californians Traffic Safety Task Force.
"Katherine introduced ITNAmerica as a safe option for those who need to stop driving. I knew the program would catch on nationally. I was so impressed that I worked to get Katherine to speak at the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging (C4A) later that Spring," Floyd said.
"Once back home, things fell into a lull until Barbara Workman called wanting to know if we at the Area Agency on Aging in San Diego County could help her establish an ITNAmerica chapter. Now I started getting excited about ITN all over again," said Floyd.
Just so happened that Floyd was planning a summer workshop on transportation and was trying to choose a topic. Not a problem now. The topic became the volunteer driver/private vehicle mode of transportation for seniors.
"I had the ITN PowerPoint on the big screen and we piped Katherine's voice in over a conference call all the way from Maine. This stirred a lot of interest. I liked Katherine's spirit -- she was saying there is room for all in this transportation mission," Floyd said.
Around the same time, Chuck Overbey, who is now the project coordinator for ITNSanDiego, saw the same article in the newspaper. "My response was that we had to have this in San Diego."
ITNAmerica introduced Barbara and Chuck, and within months they were working on submitting an application. Barbara, Chuck and Floyd secured support from the City and County of San Diego, and after nearly two years of planning and fundraising, ITNSanDiego officially became an affiliate in December.
Anyone can become a member, regardless of whether you qualify to ride. Everyone benefits. Businesses retain their valuable customers, adult children find relief from a complex problem, public safety is improved, and older adults stay connected to family, friends and community.
ITNSanDiego began offering rides in the fall of 2008. To find out how you can support the nonprofit service by becoming a charter member, volunteering, or donating a vehicle or money, please contact us.