North Hempstead, NY – The Town of North Hempstead’s innovative senior initiative, Project Independence (P.I.), reached a milestone this month as it surpassed 100,000 taxi trips for P.I. members. The Town began taking calls for P.I. back in 2008.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to know that our Project Independence members have taken advantage of 100,000 free and discounted taxi rides, which have made their lives a bit easier,” said Supervisor Bosworth. “Project Independence has given thousands of seniors a sense of well-being, made them more self-reliant and allowed them to remain in their own homes.”

New Hyde Park residents and P.I. member Adrianna Hatzis is a frequent rider of the discounted taxi rides.

“Over the past year two years Project Independence’s taxi service has truly bettered my life by giving me transportation at a low cost when I was unable to drive, instead of depending on someone else,” said Ms. Hatzis.

Free rides to shopping and discounted rides to medical appointments are just a few of P.I.’s comprehensive array of social services. Project Independence is one of the few programs of its kind in the entire nation, offering members social and recreational programs, community education, volunteer services and transportation for shopping and medical appointments.

“Without these discounted and free taxi rides, who knows where some of these seniors might be or what they might be doing without?” said Council Member Lee Seeman. “It gets them to their medical appointments and to the grocery store, all while giving them a great sense of independence.”

Created in 2006 as an aging-in-place program for the Town’s nearly 60,000 residents over 60 years of age, P.I. has assisted aging residents in remaining in their own homes and familiar surroundings. In June 2015 P.I. signed up its 10,000 member.

In 2009 the Town of North Hempstead was named one of the top 25 healthiest places to retire in the Nation by Money Magazine and earlier this year became the first Town in Nassau County to receive the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Communities designation, given by AARP, which declares the Town an age-friendly place to live. AARP confers this designation on municipalities having progressive and forward-thinking public policies that serve older populations and that are friendly to all ages.

Serving over 222,000 people, the Town of North Hempstead’s governing body is headed by the Town Supervisor, Judi Bosworth and six Town Board members: Viviana L. Russell, Peter J. Zuckerman, Angelo P. Ferrara, Anna M. Kaplan, Lee R. Seeman and Dina M. De Giorgio. The Town Clerk is Wayne Wink and the Receiver of Taxes is Charles Berman.

Have you tuned into North Hempstead TV lately? View all of our great programming on Channels 18 or 63 on Cablevision or Channel 46 on Verizon, or visit www.myNHTV.com or www.youtube.com/townofnorthhempstead.

The Town celebrates 100,000 taxi rides through North Hempstead’s Project Independence program.