"I came to live in the city in 2012 and joined Buffalo CarShare as a member in October of that year. As with so many other people, CarShare has allowed for so much to happen in my life.
CarShare has made a world of difference, allowing me to be a normal and productive member of society when, I have felt, my economic standing and abilities would have prevented me to be otherwise. In other words, this service is life altering to me and it is because of Buffalo CarShare that the quality of my life has been majorly improved.
In the past two and half years, Buffalo CarShare has been along the journey of getting me out of homelessness, to settling into a studio apartment. CarShare also made it possible for me to move out of that studio apartment and into an even better one, more suitable for me.
It has allowed me to get to doctor's appointments with providers that are not on metro bus lines - which has allowed me to get my health back under control. It has made shopping much easier. It has allowed for me to be at funerals, to be there for others in their time of need when they were there for me in mine.
Buffalo CarShare has allowed me to be with family, when normally I would not have been able to. It has allowed me to be with friends at special dinners, graduations and award ceremonies and to celebrate their milestones. More importantly, it has helped improve the lives of some of my friends.
Here's how it has not only helped me: I have two friends who can't drive, their doctors forbid them to because of their health. One suffers from severe seizures, frequent strokes and physical limitations. Another friend has severe mental illness that impedes her ability to drive. However, because of my membership with Buffalo CarShare, both of these folks have had their lives impacted as well. Whenever I have a car, it not only helps me take care of the things I need to do, it allows me to help these ladies help themselves to lead better lives. They would otherwise be home-bound. Getting groceries, medications and other daily needs would be much harder. Not to mention, it just helps them get out and enjoy the world. They don't have anyone else to help them, so the time that I spend with them using CarShare makes a difference.
Basically, it comes down to this, it is very hard for me to imagine what life would be like without having the option or ability to use Buffalo CarShare."
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