VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Officials at First Step Shelter are starting a new program after one of their residents was hit and killed last month trying to get to the bus stop.
What You Need To Know
- First Step Shelter resident Ashleyh Baker, 30, was hit and killed crossing the street to a bus stop on January 25
- The shelter is starting a new donation-based program to help get shelter residents to work
- Called Ashley's Ride, the donation fund will be used to hire Uber and Lyft drivers to take residents to work
It’s called Ashley’s Ride — a donation-based program to help get shelter residents to work safely.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, 30-year-old shelter resident Ashley Baker was crossing Route 92 just before sunrise when she was hit and killed. Shelter leaders said she was trying to get to the bus stop across from the shelter to get to her first day at her new job.
Gia Lana, a shelter resident who called Baker her best friend, described her as an enthusiastic person and mother ready to start her new job.
“She was saying she was ready to go, she went and got her boots for her job and everything,” said Lana.
Lana said they’re constantly reminded of what happened to her, as most residents rely on the bus themselves to get to work, having to cross the street at all hours without a cross walk.
“I feel very cautious when I am crossing the street, I just don’t want anyone to deal with what happened to her and it makes me really nervous because people are going 60, 70 miles an hour down 92,” said Lana.
Shelter Director Victoria Fahlberg said the loss was a wake up call.
“You know it was pretty clear I think to everybody that we really need to do more with transportation,” said Fahlberg.
Which is why they decided to start Ashley's Ride in Baker's honor after the idea was brought to them by a member of the New Smyrna Beach Rotary Club.The donation based fund will be restricted to improving transportation for shelter residents.
“When something awful happens you want to find some way to make something good come out of it and so this seemed to us like the really great thing we could do is to create this special funding and hope to prevent anyone else here at the shelter from having the same thing happen to them,” said Fahlberg.
The fund will be used to pay for Uber and Lyft rides for shelter residents. They also hope to buy a second vehicle that can be used to drive residents around. Falhlberg said an anonymous donor has already agreed to match their funds if they are able to raise $5,000.
“What happened with Ashley was just devastating to everybody," said Fahlberg. “I am grateful for everybody that cares about the people here at First Step Shelter”
Lana said she thinks this is program is exactly what Baker would have wanted as her legacy.Ashley Baker
“I think it would make it a lot safer for people and through Ashley, through her memory, we would all just be going to work and things like that,” said Lana.
Fahlberg says she is still working on permanent solutions to the safety issue around the shelter and feels positive other options will be put in place soon.
Family members of Baker said they are happy about the program and could not have thought of a better way of keeping something like this from happening to someone else.
If you would like to donate to Ashley’s ride, you can find the link to the shelter's website here.
(2/2) Ashley’s Ride is a donations fund for improving transportation for shelter residents. It will pay for Uber/Lyft rides and maybe another shelter vehicle. Aim is to keep residents from relying on only public transportation. Donations: https://t.co/IxogzUhUlE @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/Mbm0qF2Mzl
— Nicole Griffin (@NicoleNews13) February 22, 2021
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