Local farmers market raises funds to transport youth with disabilities

Proceeds from a farmers market this week on the Far Eastside of Indianapolis will support a local organization that transports youth with disabilities from low-income households. The funds will help Can We Ryde Inc. purchase a wheelchair accessible 16-passenger van to support more kids. 

Nicole Woods, a mother of 10 children and a grandmother to 27 grandchildren, knows how hard it can be to shuffle kids around from one place to another, especially if a child needs additional accommodations.  

“Some parents either don't have transportation, some parents [are] low-income and just trying to make ends meet,” Woods said. “I’ve spoken with a lot of parents that need that extra help and that's what I'm trying to create.” 

As a former school bus driver with more than 20 years of experience, Woods formed Can We Ryde Inc. in August 2022 to transport low-income youth and youth with disabilities, as well as their siblings. 

Fourteen percent of Hoosiers who utilize public transportation identify as having some form of disability, according to an Indiana Mobility Management Network report published in October 2022. But finding quick, reliable transportation services for people with disabilities can be challenging. 

Stories of parents struggling to juggle work while also taking kids to school and other places, reminded Woods of her own struggles with transportation for her 10 children, including one with a disability. 

“I was that parent,” Woods said. “I was the one that struggled with transportation for my babies. I needed help, I needed guidance. When you don't know and don't really have anybody there — I understand [the] struggle and the struggle is definitely real.”

So far, Woods said she’s driven kids from more than 30 families to school, family members’ houses or after school programs like the Boys and Girls Club or the YMCA. 

But Woods needs more seats. Right now, she can only transport three or four youth at a time, and she’s had requests from various organizations to transfer four times as many kids to their programs. 

“I want to be that bridge to be able to help these babies so they can be able to take advantage of the community [resources],” she said. 

Woods will host a market this week to help fund the purchase of a new vehicle. The market will have fruit, produce and flowers for purchase. Salads and sandwiches will also be for sale. 

Employees from WIC, a government program to improve access to food and healthy diets, will be passing out $30 WIC cards to eligible people, which they can use to purchase produce at the market.

The event is on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m., located at 1301 North Huber Place Indianapolis, Ind., 46219.

Contact WFYI’s health reporter Elizabeth Gabriel at egabriel@wfyi.org.