Angels at the Wheel

By Giving List Staff   |   January 1, 2021

Slight and sinewy, Al Falcone clocks into his job as a driver with Easy Lift at 4:30 am.

Over the course of the day the Vietnam vet will drive 15-20 dialysis patients to their lifesaving treatments, covering more than 200 miles of road. He meets them at the door, often wheeling them to his waiting van where he then loads them in and straps them down. 

“When I see Al clock out, it’s as if he is just starting his shift,” says Ernesto Paredes, the executive director of Easy Lift. “He always has that same wonderful attitude. There are people in this community who are true angels, and one happens to be working at Easy Lift.”

Al Falcone, Driver

The nonprofit has been in existence since 1979, more than a decade before the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 made clear that people with disabilities needed a level playing field. A key mandate was providing the disabled dignity through accessibility and mobility. 

Paredes took the helm of Easy Lift in 1991, and set upon a “civil rights” mission to ensure that frail seniors, children, and adults with severe disabilities – both physical and mental – had the transportation they needed to live a full life. 

In the years since, the organization, under Paredes’ leadership, has consistently grown and expanded its services. It’s 30-van fleet provides an average of 300 rides a day. And through Easy Lift’s Dial-a-Ride Program, anyone who needs a lift can get one for $3.50 each way. The cost to the nonprofit is $50. 

This can be lifesaving. Paredes recalls when one of his clients received a call from his doctor asking him to come in that day for a cancer test. If he didn’t go then, he would have had to wait three weeks. Easy Lift got him there, where he was diagnosed with very early stage cancer. Paredes says his clients need “same day transportation. Waiting weeks for a critical test is not an option.” 

And the challenge and need is only expanding.

“The graying of America has been happening,” Paredes says. “The Silver Tsunami is here and has been here. Each year the demand on our service increases exponentially.” 

To meet it, Easy Lift needs more vehicles and drivers like Mr. Falcone. 

 

Easy Lift Transportation

Donate now!

easylift.org
(805) 681-1410
Executive Director: Ernesto Paredes

Mission

Easy Lift’s mission is to fulfill our community’s need for specialized transportation to allow individuals and organizations access to essential programs and services.

Begin to Build a Relationship

We know you care about where your money goes and how it is used. Connect with this organization’s leadership in order to begin to build this important relationship. Your email will be sent directly to this organization’s director of development and/or Executive Director.

Adopt-a-Van

Whether it’s a person living on disability assistance or a retired person surviving on a pension, Easy Lift recognizes that most of its passengers depend on limited fixed income. That’s why the organization keeps the cost of a one-way ride through Dial-a-Ride at a very affordable $3.50. The program is subsidized through donations, grants, and public transit contributions.

Easy Lift makes up for budgetary shortfalls via multiple sponsorship opportunities, including its most popular Adopt-a-Van, which provides sponsors “with a full-color rear vehicle wrap on one of our vehicles for a year.” As Executive Director Ernesto Paredes says, Adopt-a-Van is “a nice fundraiser that we don’t have to go out and hustle and do a big event and all the craziness that comes with it.”

Board of Directors

Eric Miller, Board President
Robert Gray, Secretary
Roy McLaughlin, Treasurer
Matthew Dentinger
Dave Johnson
Craig McClellan
Kim Olson