Cancer patients offered reliable transportation

When Ken Adams underwent chemotherapy in 2009, he noticed many fellow cancer patients waiting for rides home via taxi cab or bus, inspiring him to start a nonprofit to solve their transportation barriers.

After completing chemotherapy in 2009, Adams founded Your Ride Is Here, which provides reliable transportation for patients to and from cancer treatments. He said he has hundreds of volunteers in the Austin metropolitan area who drive patients to their medical treatments.

Since 2009, the nonprofit has provided more than 600 rides to cancer patients in the Austin metropolitan area, including Cedar Park, Georgetown and Round Rock. The organization expanded services to Houston in September.

For special occasions, the nonprofit provides luxury transportation through its Dream Rides program in which volunteers drive patients in luxury vehicles. For special events, the organization borrows vehicles from local car dealers such as Ferrari S.p.A, Fiat S.p.A, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin Lagonda Limited and Bentley Motors Limited.

"[Dream Rides are] kind of an uplifting experience," Adams said. "You put [patients] in the car for a couple of minutes and give them a ride, and they start talking about the car. They aren't talking about how bad they feel or the kind of [cancer] treatment they had. We found early on that that was one of the most beneficial things to the rides that we give."

In late October, 13-year-old Micayla Beavers celebrated her last day of chemotherapy treatment by taking a ride in a McLaren vehicle through the Dream Rides program. Her mother, Dee, said Micayla was dropped off at school in the McLaren after her treatment.

"Some of her teachers and coaches came out and saw the car. It was pretty awesome," Dee said. "The look on her face was priceless. To see that smile on her face, we were all just thrilled."

Eligibility for rides through Your Ride Is Here is determined by social workers at cancer treatment facilities.

Penny DeCou, a social worker at Texas Oncology Austin Central, said patients who qualify for Your Ride Is Here include those who receive radiation cancer treatment, do not have a source of transportation or just need some extra TLC.

Patients who receive radiation treatments often have a difficult time finding reliable transportation because appointments are needed on a daily or weekly basis, DeCou said. To determine eligibility for a ride, patients should contact the social worker at their cancer treatment facility.

"[Patients] often get a real emotional lift out of it in addition to just the security of having a reliable ride," she said. "[Adams] doesn't just give the rides. He gives people a lot of dignity through what he does. He treats them like VIPs."

In 2012, the nonprofit received a $5,000 grant for 2013 from Young Texans Against Cancer.

The grant helped to pay for a new software program that allows social workers to search for nearby volunteers and schedule rides for patients.

Adams said it only takes about an hour for a volunteer to provide a ride for a patient.

"Sometimes that hour is the difference between someone choosing treatment or going without. One ride makes a tremendous difference in someone's probability of successfully completing treatment and the odds of recovery," he said.

Your Ride Is Here, www.yourrideishere.org, P.O. Box 4149, Cedar Park, TX 78630