(Above): Jeanette and Joseph have been using Elaine’s services since September of 2022. Elaine has transported them back and forth to the housing department numerous times to complete steps for a potential housing placement. After waiting patiently for months Jeanette and Joseph finally received the good news that they were approved for an apartment! Ameze (with A New Leaf) called Asia with the great news and coordinated transportation to help the couple move. On March 3rd Elaine was able to help Joseph and Jeanette move their belongings into their new place and capture this lovely photo of the couple in their new apartment. The couple was extremely grateful for our unique service and said “if it wasn’t for Elaine I don’t know if any of this would be possible and as quick of a process as it has been.” They said they would recommend Elaine for anyone!

(Above): Shonteria was referred to us by a local Women’s shelter, and a month later, was able to get into a new apartment! We at Elaine felt privileged to have a part in making this happen by transporting her to her new residence. Shonteria explained to us that her next priority would be paying off a water bill debt that was run up by a family member; unfortunately, this debt made it impossible for Shonteria to get utility service at her new residence. We learned that she is looking forward to having her young son come and live with her as soon as everything is fully settled with her new home and utilities. Despite these major obstacles and life upheavals, Shonteria is skillfully balancing maintaining her job and caring for her young son. We at Elaine are proud to support Shonteria in whatever way we can in her endeavor to create a safe and loving home for her family. 

(Above): Ben is an energetic senior who spends a good part of his day at the Justa Center in downtown Phoenix. Ben saw our flyer in the lobby of the Justa center and called in to inquire. After learning about our ride services for the community, Ben was ecstatic! He immediately booked a ride. Elaine’s services helped Ben handle important matters such as a doctor's appointment, housing paperwork, and even getting food- without Elaine, he said getting around to all these appointments and errands would have taken the entire day or more. With Elaine, it was all handled in just over an hour. Ben passed the Elaine name around to a couple of his friends, and we were able to help them too!

(Above): Moving from another state is always hard, but it becomes extremely difficult when you are experiencing homelessness. John moved from sunny Orlando Florida due to falling on hard times there. Once he arrived in Phoenix, John went to CASS shelter in downtown Phoenix so he could establish housing. A caseworker at CASS gave John our number to set up services to transport him to Amazon where he is now employed. While in transport he expressed gratitude for our services and how important it was for him to make it to work because it was his first day. Not being from Phoenix, John expressed how stressed he was about not knowing the area and trying to take the bus to get there on time. With our services he was able to get to work stress free and have a productive first day!

(Above): Juan has been a client with Elaine since January 2023. He initially reached out to get transportation to an urgent appointment: “I heard about Elaine and they were on time and patiently waited with me,” says Juan. He went on to explain that he hadn’t been able to eat the food he needed for his health condition due entirely to a lack of transportation- on top of that, he had gone without necessary medications for a month, also due entirely to lack of transportation. With Elaine, Juan’s crisis was solved.

(Above): Kim has been a client with Elaine since July of 2022. In that short time, Kim has gone from living in shelter services to living in her own apartment and attending school! Elaine has consistently been there to transport Kim to and from appointments, so she has been able to focus on what matters.

(Above): Stephanie is a new client with Elaine. She is from another state and recently moved to Arizona, which made it hard for her to get around. Elaine helped Stephanie get to the department of economic security to get her benefits letter printed out. That letter helped Stephanie establish benefits to receive food and medical assistance. In Stephanie’s words, “being unfamiliar with a new area, having a service like yours made this a less stressful and easy process to get this letter. Thank you kindly.”

(Above): Life throws us curve balls all the time- but it’s the constant resilience that helps us prevail. Joseph is a true testament to that statement. While our Elaine driver was assisting another client at CASS homeless shelter, Joe approached to inquire about our services and how we could help him. He explained to our driver that he had had his cell phone and wallet stolen with all his important documents inside. Elaine helped Joe get to the bank to stop all payments. He was able to utilize an Elaine driver's company phone to get ahold of his employer to give them his new banking info and start receiving his checks to his new account. When the odds were against Joe, Elaine was there to help make his life easier and brighten his day. Joe was extremely grateful to his driver Asia for being professional, courteous and responding urgently.

(Above): John is an 83 year old Army veteran, who was recently living in Idaho and relocated to Arizona. John had the only belongings he owned stolen from him and was left without any money or a place to stay. After contacting Phoenix police department and filing a report John was taken over to CASS homeless shelter. Once arriving at CASS John heard about Elaine from a case manager and called to schedule a ride. John was taken to his bank to help him get financial funds for basic necessity needs. Once arriving back to CASS John was elated and grateful for Elaine's services and mentioned how it was a huge help towards the right direction. 

(Above): Scott, a new client with Elaine was down on hard times and transportation was the biggest obstacle in his way. Scott was staying at CASS shelter and with the help of Elaine services he was able to move into his group home. Scott worked endlessly with a case manager to get the help he needed. After he moved into his new home he was left without food and without the means to purchase any. Our driver informed Scott that we provide rides to the food banks to get free food boxes and clothes. He expressed that he only had one shirt and one pair of pants. After taking him to Nourish Food Pantry, he had a few more clothing items and enough food to last him for at least two weeks.

(Above): Christin heard about Elaine from Gellert Health. She was surprised that there was a service out there that was willing to help people facing hardship free of charge. She had said that she wasn't able to get food for a while because she didn't have transportation, and the food bank was about fifteen minutes away from her residence. She said that because of Elaine she was able to finally get nutritious food. She mentioned she looked forward to using Elaine in the future.

(Above) Mathieu went on the trip with Christin (left) so that he could help her carry her food from St. Mary's. He said he was happy to know about the service in case he had a need to use it in the future. He didn’t share his personal journey, but he believed Elaine was a service that should be more well-known because a lot of people are stuck in difficult places and they don't see a way out, and he believed Elaine was a service that provided a sense of hope. 

Anonymous

Late on a Friday afternoon, Elaine then-trainee Asia received a call from a CASS caseworker- the caseworker said there was a resident of the shelter who could get housing if she could sign her lease by 5pm that day. Even with the short deadline, Asia and the rest of our team stepped up to make it happen- we were able to pick up our anonymous passenger within the hour and help her get keys to her new home within just a couple of hours. On top of that, Asia followed up with the passenger and her family to coordinate transportation for move-in the following week. Our anonymous passenger and her two adult children were able to safely and efficiently move all their belongings from storage into their new home.

Sandy

“I’m Professor Sandy Couch, I’m 93, and I just want to make some comments about this driving service Elaine; it’s very very efficient, the drivers are very polite, and you don’t feel rushed at all. I went to my doctor’s office for example- I’ve been with three drivers- and they get out and help me get there, and they wait patiently. And it’s not difficult at all to make an appointment, they just ask for a few days’ notice. I just can’t say enough. It certainly means a lot to me, because I’m trapped at home- being 93, I’d be a danger to absolutely everything if I drove (laughs). So, I sit passively in the back seat and enjoy the service. I highly recommend that the service be supported and continue. I appreciate it, thank you very much!”