PHOENIX — On the side of a white van over patches of bright colors, Elaine Herzberg’s first name is written in all capital letters spanning from the front to the back doors.
The van is one of five vehicles with five drivers behind the wheel who help take people experiencing homelessness to critical errands like health appointments, housing interviews and employment opportunities.
“There's a lot of people on the streets where, without our service, accessing needed resources is almost impossible,” Vivienne Gellert, the founder of Elaine said.
Herzberg was 49 years old, and experiencing homelessness herself, when she was hit and killed by a self-driving Uber vehicle while walking her bike across Mill Avenue outside of a crosswalk.
Neither the car nor the safety driver stopped.
“Our name is a true north of reminding us why we’re here, who we’re here to help,” Gellert said.
While a pre-med student in college, Gellert said she saw firsthand how people experiencing homelessness would come through the emergency department needing services. So, Gellert and her friends went to the streets and formed an organization called BakPak to help.
“We started to really understand the need of breaking barriers and accessing health care appointments and housing interviews and just going to the grocery store - the laundry mat,” Gellert said.
While still in college, Gellert said she wrote up the idea to help transport those experiencing homelessness to critical errands.
“I had this beautiful plan on paper of how we were going to serve those who need us. But in order to be able to do that, you need money,” Gellert said. “And I had gone to so many meetings, to so many hospitals and presented this idea and just nothing was really coming to life.”
Gellert recalls trying to decide if she should go to medical school or keep trying to make the health transport nonprofit a reality.
“When the Herzberg family granted us this funding, it gave the vision the possibility of having life,” Gellert said.
BakPak was renamed Elaine and became a reality in 2019.
“We started with three vehicles and drivers, we’ve now increased that to five vehicles and drivers,” Eric Barr, CEO of Elaine, said.
In the first six months of 2023, Barr said those five drivers have given more than 4,000 rides to nearly 1,000 different people.
“We actually eclipsed, in terms of the number of rides and number of individuals served, that we did in all of 2022,” Barr said.
Elaine currently serves people from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, giving round-trip rides to adults over the age of 18 in a 15-mile radius around the Human Services Campus in Phoenix. People needing rides can call (602) 848-1717 to schedule a ride.
“We someday want to be an organization that cities all over the country can count on to help serve individuals who really need it,” Barr said.
Gellert said she had hoped the service would help just one person, but to know it’s helped many more is a sign of hope in the world.
“There's so much good that still exists in helping others, and seeing that people, you know, are able to go from the streets to a housing interview to a home to being able to provide a life for themselves,” Gellert said.
“If Elaine were here today and be able to see what her life means to this world, she would be so proud and honored to see how many people we get to touch and help,” Gellert said.
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