Free ride program relaunches in Manitowoc County to help people with basic needs
MANITOWOC - United Way Manitowoc County’s Ride United program has relaunched, helping cover ride costs for basic needs in partnership with Felician Village On the Go and Maritime Cab.
United Way’s goal is to provide 300 or more rides per month starting in June 2023 and running through May 2024.
United Way’s Board of Directors approved $48,000 from the organization’s 2022 fundraising efforts in support of the program.
Lakeshore Technical College has donated $1,500 as a Ride United program sponsor, bringing the program’s total support to $49,500.
The purpose of Ride United is to improve transportation equity, a critical component of poverty alleviation. United Way Manitowoc County saw early impact during the program’s pilot phase in June 2022. During the pilot, Ride United provided 244 rides thanks to a $4,000 grant from United Way Worldwide, improving access to employment (154 rides), food (35 rides), health services (35 rides), education (10 rides) and legal services (two rides).
Community stakeholder feedback following the pilot phase was very positive, United Way said.
Lakeshore Technical College also reported Ride United benefited students by not only getting them to campus but also assisting with child care drop-off and pickup, improving students’ ability to attend classes.
Nonprofits also identified the impact Ride United brought to those they serve.
To learn more about Ride United, how to book a ride or to make a donation, visit UnitedWayManitowocCounty.org or call 920-682-8888.
Welcome to your weekly dose.Here is more news from throughout Manitowoc County.
Manitowoc summer homeless count nears, volunteers sought
Volunteers are sought for the Point-in-Time Homeless County in Manitowoc July 26-27.
Two shifts are available: 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and 4-6 a.m.
The PIT Count is an overnight street and known location count of people experiencing homelessness. It is done twice per year, once in summer and once in winter.
Results of the count help establish future homelessness reduction programs, funding and other supports.
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Here's how the count works:
Teams of volunteers are assigned to areas looking for anyone unsheltered and providing referrals to supportive services.
Volunteers also provide kits with personal hygiene items and food/beverage gift cards.
The data collected through the PIT Count are reported to the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, which is provided to the U.S. Congress.
Homelessness information is also reported to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and is utilized to develop the Housing Inventory Chart for the Balance of State Continuum of Care.
Those interested in volunteering can check out the PIT Count FAQs and sign up at unitedwaymanitowoccounty.org.
A volunteer training to prepare for the count will be from noon to 1 p.m. July 20.
Businesses and individuals can also get involved by donating vouchers or gift cards.
To learn more, call United Way at 920-682-8888.
Rahr-West Art Museum plans Paint Out July 22
Rahr-West Art Museum, 610 N. Eighth St., Manitowoc, will host another year of Paint Out, its plein air painting event, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. July 22.
The Paint Out will take place along the lakeshore at Lighthouse Park, 475 Maritime Drive, Manitowoc.
Artists Hector Acuna and Nita Moore will be doing live demonstrations during the event.
The public is invited to join in the demos, live music and light refreshments, and to also paint along.
Attendees are asked to take their own art materials if they wish to paint.
Contact the museum at 920-686-3090 for more details.
Wisconsin Maritime Museum displays Wisconsin-built wooden boat
Wisconsin Maritime Museum, 75 Maritime Drive in Manitowoc, will have a special Wisconsin-built wooden boat on display until the end of 2024.
Emma is a 20-foot long wooden launch likely built in the 1890s by the Pierce Engine Company of Racine, the museum said in a news release.
The boat spent much of its early life on the lakes around Milwaukee before being restored by Bruce Renquist in the 1990s.
The restoration is inspired by the electric water taxis used in the lagoons at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. That World’s Fair featured inventor Nicola Tesla, who illuminated the entire fairgrounds with 11,000 kilowatts of alternating current electricity.
What makes Emma unique, according to the museum, is that during its 10-year restoration, the boat was repowered with an electric motor to turn the propeller.
When the boat was acquired by Renquist in the 1980s, it came without a builder’s plate or an engine. However, evidence indicated it was repowered several times during its life, the museum said.
An inboard electric motor was chosen as the power source, since the Racine Manufacturing Company provided 25 electric-powered water taxis for the Columbian Exposition. The electric boats used chloride batteries and could be recharged at stations within the fairgrounds.
Emma was recently donated to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum by Renquist and will be on display until the end of 2024.
For more information, call 920-684-0218.
Manitowoc County road work on County W starts July 5
Reconstruction of County W from Taus Road to Man Cal Road in Manitowoc County that was scheduled to start in late June will now start July 5.
That segment of the road will be closed to through traffic, although access to affected residences and businesses will be maintained. A detour route will be U.S. 10 to County G to County W.
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The project is expected to be completed around the end of September and consists of grading, base aggregate dense, breaker run, pulverize and relay, HMA pavement, concrete masonry culverts, curb and gutter, landscaping and pavement marking.
Manitowoc Lincoln Class of 1958 plans 65th reunion
Manitowoc Lincoln High School’s Class of 1958 will hold its 65th reunion Aug. 11-12.
A news release from reunion organizers said the reunion weekend will kick off Aug. 11 with a narrated bus tour of Manitowoc, a golf outing and an informal get-together at the Elks Club.
Then at noon Aug. 12, the main reunion event will be at the Manitowoc Yacht Club.
Reunion Committee members are Joan Christel Carlson, Bill Hackbarth, Lee Hansen, Larry Maloney, Lloyd Rank, Mary Ellen Beaton Sampe, Joanne Fink Williamsen and Howard Zimmerman. They’ve been planning the event since September 2022.
The committee said it has made every attempt to find and invite classmates directly, but still has many they have not been able to connect with. People can contact Hackbarth at tojoallen@aol.com or 920-858-8428 to register.
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Contact Brandon Reid at 920-686-2984 or breid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @breidHTRNews.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc Ride United offers free rides for basic needs in the county
