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Commission approves 50 transit tickets for Lotus Recovery House residents
Summary
The Fort Smith Transit Commission approved a request to allocate 50 tickets from its CAP program to Lotus Recovery House Incorporated to support clients' travel for medical care, job access and court appearances.
Fort Smith — The Fort Smith Transit Commission voted to allocate 50 transit tickets to Lotus Recovery House Incorporated to support residents' access to medical care, job interviews, court appearances and other basic needs.
Staff said Lotus Recovery House contacted the commission after an earlier presentation and requested additional tickets to support program growth. Laura Van Hook, identified in the meeting as the applicant who previously presented to the commission, did not provide a specific ticket request number at the earlier meeting, staff said; commissioners were later told the house has 21 residents and that one trip for each resident would require 42 tickets if each trip uses two tickets.
Commissioners noted the commission previously provided 50 tickets to a similar program serving men, Hopes Bridge, and staff recommended the same allocation for the women's facility. Ken, a staff member, described the commission's historical ticket usage and capacity, saying annualized use was well under the commission's informal 15,000‑ticket benchmark and that total allocated tickets across programs would still leave room under that threshold.
The commission held a roll‑call vote and approved the allocation. Roll call: Melissa Yes; Angie Yes; Marion Yes; Bradley Yes; Joe Yes.
Lotus representative in the meeting said the house now serves 20 women and has only one vehicle. In public comment after the vote she thanked commissioners and said, "I now have 20 ladies and only 1 car. So I truly appreciate it. Thank you so much." The commission noted it had approved the 50‑ticket allocation while the representative was present.
Ending: Staff will issue the CAP tickets to Lotus Recovery House and said the program requires recipients to return a usage form before receiving subsequent monthly tickets; the form lists rider name, ticket number and purpose (for example, "doctor's visit" or "job search"), which staff described as the program's accountability measure.
