News from New York State Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance

For more information contact: Michael Hayes or Anthony Farmer, 518-474-9516

Wheels Help Oneida/Herkimer Residents Achieve Economic Independence

Funds To Help Secure and Maintain Transportation

UTICA, NY (04/15/2008; 1500)(readMedia)-- The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has awarded $174,500 to the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties for the Wheels for Work program, to help low-income families secure reliable transportation to get to work and stay employed.

“I am pleased we were able to award these funds to the Workforce Development Board for the first time to assist residents of Oneida and Herkimer counties,” said OTDA Commissioner David A. Hansell. “Getting to work on time, dropping your kids off at day care and being at all the other places a parent needs to be requires some way to get there. The Wheels for Work program provides used vehicles and other related services to working New Yorkers, helping them obtain employment or keep a job, giving them and their families a brighter future.”

Commissioner Hansell awarded a check for the funding to local officials during an event today at the Workforce Investment Board’s Working Solutions One Stop Center in Utica.

In addition to providing cars, the Wheels for Work program offers assistance with car repairs, auto insurance, registration and licensing fees, financial counseling, driver’s education, defensive driving courses and car maintenance training. Over the next year, 75 individuals will be served with this funding and 15 will receive vehicles through this program.

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr., said: “Oneida County is pleased to work with the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and its partners to help provide assistance to people who need help overcoming the transportation barrier to maintain their jobs, find work or to move up to better jobs. Helping people move up is part of our mission, and this project is an important way we can work with the WIB and community partners to help lower-income workers who have demonstrated a commitment to working their way back up.”

Alice Savino, Executive Director of the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties, said: “This is a very exciting project because it builds upon a successful pilot project the WIB operated with the Resource Center for Independent Living (RCIL), which will be our major partner in operating this program. We know transportation is a barrier for many people in our region, and this project will give us the opportunity to help working families surmount that barrier. We thank OTDA for their support of our efforts.”

Lucille Soldato, Oneida County Commissioner of Social Services, said: “The role of DSS is to help people and families recover and move on. By working with the WIB and RCIL, who successfully operated a pilot project to test this concept, our Employment Division can help people who are trying to rebound from difficult circumstances but who need assistance with the transportation they need to get to work.”

Erwin Fuller, Herkimer County Social Services Commissioner, said: “This project gives the Herkimer County Department of Social Services another option to help lower-income workers remain employed or to help people entering the workforce get the transportation they need. We believe that this project can help individuals in our area get to work and improve their lives, and we are pleased to assist the WIB and RCIL.”

Accessing education and training, affordable child care and better employment opportunities are all key aspects of improving the economic security of New Yorkers, Hansell said. And once they are able to gain a foothold in the workforce, OTDA and other state agencies offer a variety of supports – food stamps, home energy assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit, among others – that enable working families to successfully move toward a greater degree of self-sufficiency, Hansell said.

The grant was among some $4 million in funding awarded to 28 organizations serving 44 counties across the state. Over the next year, more than 1,500 individuals will be served and nearly 800 will receive a vehicle as a result of the funding.

“The Wheels for Work program has been a huge success, particularly in rural areas of our state where public transportation is limited or non-existent,” said Hansell. “Reliable transportation can be an important first step in helping bring some stability to the lives of low-income families in these areas.”

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