STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC Nov. 25 2020
Getting a driver’s license can be a challenge for Pontiac youth, but they now have a leg up, with the West Pontiac Connects (WPC) on the verge of beginning their Driving for Success program.
The program publicly came to light when it was brought to the MRC Council of Mayors during the October meeting by coordinator Greg Graham, as he was seeking support from mayors. The idea is that . . .
through assisting community organizations and nonprofits with volunteering, young people aged 12-20 would be able to accumulate credits that they could eventually use to help pay off their driving education, which has gradually gotten more expensive over time.
WPC President Gene O’Brien said that the idea for the program was born out of a meeting with community groups from around the Pontiac where she discovered there was a desire for youth to assist in fundraising and other activities — as some members of these groups are getting older while group sizes dwindle over time.
“[I remember thinking], it’s too bad we don’t have a mechanism where we can get young people working with these organizations who can gain experience and they can sort of grow these new people into the organizations,” O’Brien explained.
The next challenge was getting provincial government funding for the endeavor, as WPC has in the past for their youth programs. By showing the rural issue of transportation accessibility, they were able to get approved.
“We identified that it’s a transportation issue,” she said. “Many people don’t go to work because they don’t have a driver’s license, so they don’t own a car, so they have no means of getting to work … A person who has a driver’s license is going to try a lot harder to have a car to be able to go to work.”
With the status of COVID-19 leaving most community groups and nonprofits currently inactive, the program will hopefully begin simply with youth volunteering for municipalities. However, the process of enrolling young people has yet to get underway with Graham still unable to physically present himself to Pontiac schools to pitch the program.
“We’re hoping by next summer that all of the kids will be able to really pick up on all the money that we have available for credits,” O’Brien said. “We’ve had a lot of support in the community towards this program because all the non profits see this as the perfect way to get the kids involved so that they feel as though they belong to the community.
She heard from teachers in the Pontiac that this program would be welcomed, with some telling her stories of overhearing students discussing how they couldn’t afford the price of driver’s education.
Once the program officially begins, the credits that youth build up can be cashed in at Rick’s Driving School in L’Isle aux Allumettes, as it is the only school in the Pontiac.
“Every kid’s not going to get a thousand dollars in the program,” O’Brien added. “You might get at the most maybe a couple hundred dollars but at least it’ll get [your] foot inside the door so [you] can start to register.”
Graham explained during his presentation to the mayors that he hopes to start by engaging youth in Sheenboro, Waltham, Chichester and L’Isle aux Allumettes. If the program is successful in these areas, the goal is to expand throughout the Pontiac.
