Help: Senior transport service offers free rides to choose from – Salisbury Post

A company that services senior care facilities in Rowan County is taking steps to provide transportation to the polls for the seniors it serves this election season.

Wil Taylor, president and co-owner of Quality Transport Non-Emergency Medical Transport (NEMT), said the company will provide free transportation to skilled nursing facility residents who want to vote during the early voting period leading up to Election Day.

“By providing this service, we want to ensure that seniors and those with limited mobility can participate in the election and make their voices heard,” Taylor said. “Our goal is to engage these often-overlooked members of the community in the civic process, especially in an election as important as this one. We work with local agencies to provide registration forms and coordinate free transportation for residents.

“We are pleased to do our part to make voting accessible and hope this initiative encourages others to support efforts that engage our community in shaping our nation’s future.”

The idea arose from a transport during the last election cycle.

“We picked up a gentleman who we’ve been transporting for a long time, and he asked on the way back from an appointment at the nursing home, ‘Can we stop by Spencer’s?'” Taylor said.

Spencer was the district where the man was registered to vote.

“Seeing how that affected him and still being able to participate in the electoral process kind of touched me and my wife,” Taylor said.

Taylor added that as a Rowan County-based company, “we have been committed to serving the community for over 30 years, and this election represents a unique opportunity to further expand that commitment.”

Taylor has worked with the entities that Quality Transport works with.

“We reached out and got their approval,” Taylor said. “We distributed registration forms to everyone. We will verify that they can vote and are in the correct precinct and we will take them to each facility.”

Quality Transport is a regional company with locations that extend beyond Rowan County’s borders. However, locally it serves Autumn Care of Salisbury, Trinity Oaks, Compass and Piedmont Health and Rehab.

“We’re just trying to give back to the community we’ve served for 30 years,” Taylor said.