Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, which found<\/a> that seniors who cannot find the rides they need feel isolated and have worse mental and physical health than those who can.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"picking](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776850691_992_default.jpg\")
James Garand (right) and Michael Benson sort through salad options at the grocery story. Thanks to Benson, Garand is able to run his errands and maintain his autonomy. (Ir\u00e8ne de Grave)A growing demand<\/p>\n
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for services has grown, with the number of social accompaniments up by more than 100 per cent between 2022 and 2023, according to ABOVAS.<\/p>\n
Both the social and medical programs rely on volunteers using their own vehicles to accompany seniors in need. While the service is technically free, clients pay a compensation of $15 to $50 to cover vehicle wear and tear of each ride.<\/p>\n
ABOVAS maintains a small team of three people to manage the programs. They vet volunteers and match them with clients based on specific needs and compatibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of our clients are alone, unfortunately,\u201d said Monica Farag, their medical coordinator. For those who have a caregiver or a spouse, \u201cthey can\u2019t do it all, it\u2019s just too much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776850691_109_default.jpg\")
Monica Farag (right) and Amanda Wakefield working in the ABOVAS offices. (Ir\u00e8ne de Grave)<\/p>\n
\u201cI almost never go out because I\u2019m afraid of falling,\u201d said James Garand, 59, a veteran who has similar visual issues to Farmer. <\/p>\n
For Garand, being accompanied by a volunteer gives him a sense of security.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are really going to follow you, guide you, then take your arm, and then you run errands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Michael Benson, 65, who began volunteering for ABOVAS last year, said clients often tell him the service makes trips easier and eases their anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a tremendous feeling for them and for me to provide that to them,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Service gap<\/p>\n
ABOVAS helps seniors who, like Farmer and many others, are falling through the cracks of social services.<\/p>\n
A range of people fall within this category: those with cancer, severe anxiety, early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s disease, or those who use a cane or walker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite having only two per cent vision, Farmer is deemed too healthy for adapted transport with accompaniment. This means even if family or friends are willing to help him, they cannot ride the adapted transport bus together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Farmer appealed the decision and also contacted Gregory Kelley, a member of the national assembly for his electoral division, Jacques-Cartier. <\/p>\n
Kelley\u2019s office confirmed that they met with Farmer and asked Quebec\u2019s\u00a0Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to review the decision. The request was denied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kelley\u2019s office expressed their disappointment. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe STM requires more funding, improved accessibility infrastructure, and increased capacity to serve the public. Both the users of Transport Adapt\u00e9 and public transit riders of STM deserve better,\u201d wrote Kelley\u2019s political advisor Nikolitsa Michelakis in an email.<\/p>\n
![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776850692_541_default.jpg\")
Michael Benson (right) guiding James Garand out of the car. As soon as Garand gets out of the car, he needs his walker in order to be able to move around safely. (Ir\u00e8ne de Grave)<\/p>\n
According to the adapted transport eligibility policy, \u201ca user with a visual impairment may use paratransit for trips made alone, and regular public transit for accompanied trips.\u201d<\/p>\n
With ABOVAS receiving more demands for services than they can handle, clients need to request a service nearly two weeks ahead of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of the struggle,\u201d said Farag. \u201cI\u2019ve had people call me and say, \u2018The hospital just called, can you help me tomorrow?\u2019 and it\u2019s a bit of a challenge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The services are also offered exclusively to West Island residents.<\/p>\n
The joy of being able to live at home<\/p>\n
Despite those challenges, ABOVAS gives more seniors the opportunity to maintain autonomy and live at home longer. <\/p>\n
Benson said he sees that first hand, during his outings as a volunteer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are contributing, making them feel independent. Because there\u2019s a lot of people that want to be independent,\u201d Benson said.<\/p>\n
Farmer agrees. He feels for the people who have moved to a nursing home, like his girlfriend.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aPeople had all kinds of different careers. And now they’re living in a senior home. They just have a room,\u201d said Farmer. At his Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue home, Farmer said he’s still able to make a meal or restore a bike, and that keeps him young. <\/p>\n
“You don’t stop playing ’cause you get old. You get old ’cause you stop playing.” <\/p>\n
About the authors<\/p>\n
Charlotte Theofanous obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Concordia University. She has interned at The Suburban and will pursue a Master of Arts in Digital Innovation in Journalism Studies at Concordia. <\/p>\n
Mijon Zulu is a Barbadian-Zimbabwean audio and video podcast producer and freelance journalist based in Montreal. He studied English literature and fine art at Williams College. After establishing a career in podcast production at Consequence Media, he pursued a research-creation graduate degree in digital innovation in journalism at Concordia University. <\/p>\n
Ir\u00e8ne de Grave is a French visual journalist with a graduate diploma in visual journalism from Concordia University. Previously she obtained a bachelor\u2019s degree in Communications at Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al. She does freelance photography and enjoys working on long-format documentaries. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is a collaboration between Concordia University’s journalism department and CBC Montreal. He\u2019s blind, but 75-year-old Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":{"0":"post-620751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-montreal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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