HCEOC Transportation Departments primary goal is to provide essential transportation services to Hawaii Island’s elderly, low-come, disabled citizens. Those who qualify for this service will be able to access medical facilities, rehabilitation centers, nutrition sites, shopping areas, banks, post offices, government buildings and places of employment to fulfill their need to be contributing members of our society.
Services are provided Monday through Friday, island wide. Handi-lift vehicles are available for those confined to wheelchairs. Services are subject to an application and qualification process, subject to approval. Funding for these services are made available by County of Hawaii, State of Hawaii, and Federal sources, including the Older Americans Act.
2017 State Legislature and identified by Office of Community Services Contract OCS-18-06 and a County of Hawaii 2017 Non Profit grant.
It has been many years of trying by our late Executive Director George Yokoyama to secure more modern vans for the agency. In the 2017 Legislative session our hopes were finally realized with a $500,000 operating grant to purchase vehicles. In 2017 we also received a $38,000 County nonprofit grant which partially paid for one van. We have purchased by RFP a total of 10 Ford 14 passenger Transit vans and are awaiting an additional 4 handicap vans through the DOT 5310 program.
A part of the GIA grant ($90,000) will be used to match the Federal DOT 5310 program which allows the Federal DOT to pay up to 80% of a vehicles cost with the Agency paying 20%. Applications for the 5310 program were made in 2016 and 2017 for a total of 4 handicap vans. The estimated cost is $100,000 per handicap vehicle. We will not know the actual cost of the four 5310 handicap vans until bids via RFP are completed at the State DOT.
These vans will improve transportation services provided to our seniors, disabled and low-income residents. These vans will provide a new level of reliability and safety for our staff and clients compared to our current fleet in which some vehicles are exceeding 300,000 miles of service. Once we receive our 5310 handicap vans we hope to extend handicap services to other areas of the island.
Requests for transportation arrangements to medical appointments and treatment locations may be scheduled by individual clients by calling the Transportation Division in East Hawaii at (808)961-2681, ext 503 or (808)345-8530, or in West Hawaii at (808) 322-3429.
To participate in our transportation program, please complete and submit our HCEOC Application Form.
Contact Information
For more information, comments, or questions about our transportation program, please contact:
- Ashley Sumi, East Hawaii Transportation Clerk, hceocfcclk4@hceoc.net
- Arlene Keohuloa, West Hawaii Transportation Supervisor, at (808) 322-3429, or akeohuloa@hceoc.net