COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The new program the Town of Colonie is offering to seniors, called GoGo Grandparent Colonie, or GoGo Colonie, is funded by the town through a $50,000 contract. The new service comes after the town pulled $235,000 from the nonprofit Colonie Senior Service Centers’ transportation program. Town Supervisor Peter Crummey says the money will be re-invested to support many services for seniors, not just transportation, and the new program has the town’s full support.
“This is an expansion of senior transportation, [which is] optional for the town,” said Crummey. “Bipartisan, seven to zero, we have voted and supported this program.”
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GoGoColonie provides 10 free one-way rides for activities that help seniors remain active. Colonie Councilwoman Kristen Blais said the decision to not fund the Centers’ program came in-part from a lack of fiscal transparency from the organization. Blais also said there were “enough” residents outside of the Town of Colonie benefitting from the service to look to other ways to provide rides to seniors outside of the Centers’ program.
“I don’t think anybody has ever said, ‘The town’s not open to providing funding to them again,’” said Blais. “I think there just needs to be a clear oversight and stricter guidelines on how that’s being provided.”
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Colonie Senior Resources Director Angelina Searles told NEWS’s Dan Passante that GoGoColonie has 220 registered riders and has done 365 rides. The program has already been improved from its initial launch, making the decision to have a person on the other end of the line when ordering a ride…