White Lake, MI – MHAction
I was born and raised in Waterford and have one sibling and two step siblings. I gave birth to my son Kyel, who is now 16 years old, then I got married and we moved to Clarkston. I ended up getting divorced, and I am raising Kyel as a single mom. I recently moved over to White Lake to be closer to my mom.
In every town I ever lived in, there has been no public transit. I work at an asphalt paving company which is located about 25 minutes from my home. If I didn’t have a car, I wouldn’t be able to get there. If I rode a bike, it would take me about an hour to get to work.
When we moved over to White Lake, there wasn’t any bussing available to take Kyel to his high school. From this past November to February, I was driving him back and forth to school every day. Kyel noticed that I was so tired, and even though he’d be missing his friends, he asked me if it was okay if he was homeschooled. I was really sad he asked me to do that, but he was right. I’m now homeschooling him, and Kyel really doesn’t get to see his friends that much anymore. We live off of a major road, so I don’t like him to ride a bike around. He really doesn’t go anywhere, anymore, and that really impacts his ability to be social with others.
I notice every single day how lack of access to public transit really impacts people. I have a lot of really nice neighbors, and we always try to help each other out. I have a neighbor who is elderly and doesn’t drive anymore. There isn’t any way for her to get to the grocery store. I guess she could walk over to the Meijer Grocery store which is about a half mile away. But she’d have to cross M59, which is a four lane highway with a median. Also, there are no sidewalks, so she’d be taking her own life in her hands by walking on the shoulder of the road. I make sure to check in when I go to the grocery store, so I can, at least, pick up some things for her.
I also have a friend that lives down in Warren. She is disabled, so without public transit, she really can’t get around. Her boyfriend works for the local garbage company and works ten hour days. Since he can’t take time off from work, any time she has a doctor’s appointment, she calls me. I have to leave work and come get her to take her to appointments. It’s really tragic that she is stuck at home each and every day.
We need bus stops and bus routes, and we need to expand the system beyond just the one that is in Pontiac. It’d be really nice to also have some train lines that could run in the medians of existing highways. If those lines were electric, it’d also be much better for the environment.
If I was in front of a Congressional Committee, I would demand that they take a better look at our transit system. I would ask them to imagine being in a senior’s situation and think about what it would be like not being able to get to the store or an appointment. I think if they really thought about it, they would support more public transit expansion for all of our communities.