GREENSBORO, N.C. — Angela Simms has been leaning on her faith lately.
The past couple years have been difficult and frightening as she's been dealing with some serious health issues.
“I was admitted into the hospital after fainting in the bathroom,” said Simms.
The fall, while painful, may have saved her life. Simms busted her jaw and had several teeth knocked out. Her face was so swollen that doctors had to wait for the swelling to go down to remove the teeth that were lodged in her lips. While doctors monitored the swelling they also ran some tests to determine why Simms fell in the first place.
“At the end of five days (in hospital) doctors ended up doing a quadruple bypass,” said Simms.
Simms was fortunate doctors performed the surgery when they did before something more serious happened.
“Without my faith I would have lost my mind a long time ago,” she said.
The health setbacks didn’t prevent Simms from attending church at least once a week, but often three or four times. The challenge has been getting rides from family or friends. Simms doesn’t drive anymore and taking a taxi or Uber to church is too expensive.
“I can’t afford that,” she said.
Well, one day a couple months ago, Simms noticed a (SCAT) Specialized Community Area Transportation bus in her neighborhood. The shared ride system will pick people up at their home and then drop them off where they want to go. Once finished, the bus will take them back home. The cost is $1.50 per trip.
“It seemed perfect for me,” said Simms.
The para-transit program has certain guidelines and is designed for people with disabilities that prevent them from riding the fixed bus route. After seeing the bus in her neighborhood, Simms called to see if she qualified. A SCAT bus was sent to pick her up and take her to the main office to fill out the proper paperwork.
A few days later, Simms called SCAT and a bus came to pick her up and take her to church. A couple days after that, Simms called again but this time was told the bus would not pick her up because she was “not in the specified area” for pickup.
“They say I’m out of the zone and can’t help (me),” said Simms.
That’s when she reached out to News 2 to verify what SCAT officials were telling her. We contacted SCAT and spoke to one of the media representatives and explained the situation. After investigating the issue, Kevin Elwood with SCAT called me back.
“She (Ms. Simms) is just outside our service area,” said Elwood.
While Simms has a Greensboro address, her house is technically in Guilford County. The SCAT program only services the city - not the county. Simms can have the bus pick her up at a local store, but the bus will not pick her up at home.
The problem for Simms is getting to the store, which is about two miles away. Simms can’t afford to take a taxi or an Uber to the store and feels it’s not safe to walk.
“It’s dangerous, there are no sidewalks and cars come by fast,” said Simms.
The county does offer services to assist people in getting around, but it’s only for very specific needs like medical appointments or jobs. The bus will not pick people up for the sole purpose of going to church.
We can verify that Simms does indeed live outside the city limits and is unfortunately not entitled to have a SCAT bus pick her up at home.