Connecting to the Community
As part of SVP Portland, the Encore Fellows program provides a source of expertise for nonprofit organizations, helps individuals (Fellows) transition from their careers into social-purpose work, and gives corporations a new way to positively impact their communities. Encore Fellows who have retired from a career are matched with host nonprofit organizations based on their passions, talents, and experience.
Have you ever noticed the green and white Ride Connection buses in your neighborhood? These community connectors are one of many ways that Ride Connection provides more public transportation options in the Portland-metro area. Ride Connection is a nonprofit dedicated to coordinating and providing transportation services to people with limited options in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. The organization has been in existence for almost 35 years, but in 2020 Wen-lin Wang was their very first Encore Fellow.
Wen-lin had a 38-year career at Intel, with 25 years as an engineering manager, and she thought, “I want to do something fulfilling with an organization that promotes senior well-being when I retire.” Though she had never heard of Ride Connection, she was drawn to their vision of creating independence and community connections through travel options. She knew from experience with friends and colleagues that navigating logistics can be a challenge for some people.
Deputy Director of Ride Connection Emily Motter says, “TriMet moves the masses, and Ride Connection moves individuals.” The organization provided 550,000 rides annually pre-pandemic, and their services include free door-to-door rides, training on how to use public transportation, fixed route rides in town, community links, fare assistance, and mileage reimbursement for volunteers. During the pandemic they offered fewer rides due to safety concerns with ride sharing, but they did some creative problem-solving and pivoted to food box delivery (22,000 food boxes in 2021!) in addition to their other services.
When Wen-lin started her fellowship, she learned what was needed at Ride Connection and was encouraged to develop her ideas for growing the Mobility for Health Program. This program breaks down the barriers to transportation through strategic partnerships and collaboration with underserved communities to meet the needs of individuals and improve access to healthcare, community resources, healthy food, and relief from social isolation. Wen-lin thought carefully about how to address the barriers to transportation, and recruited candidates for the specialist positions who spoke languages of and were culturally sensitive to the communities they served. The specialists provide one-on-one counseling to guide people through their needs and arrange rides from someone they trust.
By partnering with nonprofits like Centro Cultural and our Community Partner IRCO, the Mobility for Health Program has grown its reach because Ride Connection volunteers are able to build relationships with people through the organizations they are already familiar with. At Wen-lin’s recommendation, Ride Connection hired an Asian specialist and a Latinx specialist, revised job descriptions, documented onboarding process, and increased their outreach to Asian, Latinx, Black, and Russian community leaders.
Although Wen-lin’s fellowship ended in December 2021, she continues to contract with Ride Connection as a project manager, streamlining multiple data sources into a single database to increase efficiency. As Wen-lin puts it, “My Intel experiences helped me with teamwork and collaboration, taking initiative, being a leader, and having discipline to get results. This fellowship allowed me to put all these skills to work for my community.”