News

1Q 2020: According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a person is homeless if they are staying/sleeping in a shelter or in a place not fit for human habitation (i.e., there are sheltered homeless and there are unsheltered homeless).

4Q 2019: TFT’s plan for 2019 was to continue its steady growth by adding four Partner Charities to its network. As has been done for the previous two years, one more was added during each quarter of 2019. TFT ended 2019 with 30 Partner Charities.

3Q 2019: In April 2019, the Greater Worcester Research Bureau published a report analyzing the possibility of the WRTA running a “fare free” bus system. Other cities, e.g., Portland, Oregon, are doing this or have done it in the past. Clearly, a fare-free WRTA would be a great benefit for those living in poverty.

2Q 2019: In a December 2018 article, US News & World Report noted that the US poverty rate dropped from 14.9 percent to 14.6 percent. In Massachusetts, the rate has dropped to 11.1%. However, Worcester’s rate is thought to be twice the state average, roughly 22%.

1Q 2019: The fiscal calendar year for regional transit authorities (RTAs) is the same as the Massachusetts state government: from July 1st of one calendar year to June 30th of the next. Since RTA budgets depend in part on funding provided by the state, the RTA administrators and their advisory boards experience the months from January to June as a period of troubling uncertainty.

4Q 2018: Having more than doubled its operations in 2017, TFT entered 2018 with a plan to more than quadruple its operations in 2018.  Additional funds were needed to meet higher WRTA fare prices.  More important was the gain in the number of Partner Charities supported.

3Q 2018: In the second quarter of 2018, TFT launched its second outreach, the Job Fare program. This program provides a 31-day WRTA bus pass to an individual starting a new job.

2Q 2018: A coalition of local health care providers have recently published the Greater Worcester Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) as their proposal to improve the overall health of area citizens. “Access” to health care is one of the issues addressed in the CHIP.

April 2018: This month, Tasks for Transit Inc. (TFT) launched its second program, the TFT Job Fare Program. The Job Fare Program is intended to help individuals who are starting a new job and won’t see a paycheck until the third week.

March 2018: Hotel Grace is the city’s overflow shelter for the homeless during the coldest days of Winter. There are three churches that sponsor and support Hotel Grace: St. John’s Catholic Church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester and Net of Compassion, a Pentecostal church.