MIFA History II continued The Search for a Sound Financial Base In the early days, while struggling to build a sound financial base for MIFA, Smith and Dempsey wrote and submitted proposal after proposal to federal agencies, local foundations, and any other source that they could find. They were convinced that as soon as they “broke the ice” and received an initial grant, they would prove their ability to administer it and other grants would follow. Their timing was fortuitous; the federal government's “War on Poverty” was awarding grants to programs designed to eliminate poverty. MIFA's proposals mirrored its commitment to improving the lives of people in need. Smith believed, “MIFA was a black box. People need services; the federal government had money. Put both in a black box. MIFA made it work!” The first federal grant awarded to MIFA was for transportation for Project MEET (Memphians Encounter Eating Together). The Memphis Presbytery provided matching funds. Borrowed church buses formed the fleet to bring seniors to congregate meal sites. Transportation Coordinator Roseann Botts remembers many early morning calls announcing that a church had special need for its bus that day. With hungry seniors expecting to be picked up, Roseann somehow found a substitute vehicle, thus pioneering the “MIFA Make-Do Method” which continues today. “Finding a way” becomes the motto when no resources are available and there is a program to operate. Once, when a bus was stolen while the seniors were eating, she found a replacement so quickly that they never noticed the change! Finally, funds became available for the purchase of passenger vans and the MIFA Transit Program soon expanded to 60 vehicles serving the elderly, the critically ill, foster children and the handicapped in four counties. Today MIFA operates 39 vehicles in the city, three in Shelby County. Transportation in Fayette, Tipton and Lauderdale Counties was spun off in 1996 to the Delta Human Resources Agency. Express Pay Per Ride was added to the program in 1996 for those persons who did not fit into the original grant guidelines but were willing to pay a small fee for the service. In 1997 the MIFA Transit fleet of 40 vehicles traveled 954,000 miles providing nearly 120,000 trips and enabling a diverse clientele to become and remain independent. Funding is equally diverse with money provided by Title III of the Older Americans Act, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, the City of Memphis Housing and Community Development, Shelby County, the Delta Area on Aging, and the Durham Foundation. The second federal grant was awarded to MIFA in 1974 and provided the funds for a feasibility study for an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). Dempsey's experience in trying to obtain health care for the underserved had convinced him that a new system was needed to provide affordable care. A follow-up grant resulted in the establishment of the first HMO in Shelby County. The HMO of Tennessee Inc., spun off from MIFA and now owned by Pru-Care, continues to offer pre-paid health care to this community. Mastery of the stringent federal regulations governing such grants provided the MIFA staffers with the skills necessary to manage future grants as well as the fiscal affairs of the growing organization. The initial period-of high hopes but empty pockets-began to ease although, Dempsey recalls, it was far from over. “The arrangement was 'a house of cards.' There were times when losing one grant would have finished MIFA.” Next: Charter Broadened