True Hope General Baptist Church donates so OATS bus can continue

When this front page was first being put together late last week, this article told a totally different tale than it does now - and that happy change is all thanks to the generous hearts found at True Hope General Baptist Church in Theodosia. 

It was announced last week that the OATS Transportation bus would have to pause its service in Ozark County and other nearby areas from April until June due to a lack of federal funds. 

While that three month stretch might not seem like much, it was a devastating blow to some Ozark Countians who rely on the bus to take them to buy groceries, attend dialysis or chemotherapy appointments or bring them to the many places they need to go throughout the month. While some riders hoped to rely on friends, family or neighbors to give them rides instead after hearing the news, others said they didn’t have anyone else to provide the transportation and were worried what would happen to them. Sensing that the pause could be a crisis for some residents, Ava Senior Center Director Hannah Tate began reaching out to people who might be able to help.

True Hope Pastor Oren Alcorn, who lives in Ava, said that’s how he first heard about the issue. 

“She is the one who really saw the need and made us aware of it,” Alcorn said. “I told the church about the situation and how it developed and asked what they’d like to do about it. They said, ‘Let’s take care of it.’ And it was as simple as that. So we just started channeling resources into the project until it was funded.”

The True Hope Baptist Church’s congregation has committed to funding the OATS bus in Ozark County for the full three month period, and it is hoped that government funds will be reinstated by that time to continue the essential service once the new fiscal year rolls over on July 1. KY3 reported that, according to OATS’ regional director, the non-profit relies on funding from federal resources such as MoDOT and other sources. However, federally, they have to have a 50 percent match from local or state funding. OATS uses funds from Senior Area Agencies on Aging to provide that match, and that’s where the issue lies.

“I am so happy that we could serve the community in this fashion. The Lord made that possible,” he said. The Ava Ministerial Alliance is funding the service in Douglas County for the next three months. 

See page A5 for a schedule of Ozark County’s OATS bus transportation or visit www.oatstransit.org/ozark for more information.