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Arlington Neighborhood Village has nearly quadrupled its budget and expanded to 455 members during its first decade, but the nonprofit still faces a persistent challenge: finding enough volunteer drivers for older adults who need help reaching medical appointments.

The organization began in 2014 with a handful of volunteers and a budget of about $120,000. Its budget has since grown to nearly $497,000. In 2024, volunteers contributed 11,864 hours while fulfilling 4,400 member requests.

“We always need more drivers to take our ANV members to their medical appointments and other errands,” said Wendy Zenker, the organization’s executive director for the past eight years.

Members pay $500 annually for access to services that include rides to grocery stores, libraries and post offices; walking companions; daily check-ins; and help with problems involving televisions, computers and other technology.

Transportation to medical appointments is currently the most common request. Although Arlington offers public transit, Zenker said those services can be difficult to use when an older resident does not live near a bus route or Metro station and must walk several blocks to reach one.

“They need a driver,” she said.

Membership is open to people 55 and older. Current members range in age from 58 to 102, with 43% older than 80. About 66% live alone, and many do not have relatives nearby. Women account for 73% of members, while men make up 27%.

Zenker said the COVID-19 pandemic changed what members needed and how comfortable some became with leaving home. Before the pandemic, volunteers might provide a weekly ride to the hairdresser. As people followed restrictions and limited their outings, help with essential errands became more important.

“Comfort and fear are big components,” she said, adding that some pandemic-era changes have remained.

Members generally submit requests three days in advance. Each request enters a volunteer database and is sent to the volunteer pool twice daily until someone accepts it. The driver then calls the member to confirm the pickup time, location, and the color and make of the vehicle.

Some requests demand unusual schedules and long trips. Zenker recalled a member who needed transportation to an MRI appointment in Woodbridge at 11 p.m. on a Sunday because it was the only available time.

“We try to do what we can,” she said.

Longtime member Katherine Collins, 88, typically navigates public transportation without difficulty, but she relies on volunteers for one medical appointment that is particularly hard to reach. She also participates in the annual Thanksgiving dinner and barbecue and joins a monthly book club on Zoom.

“I’ve been introduced to books I’d never thought to read,” Collins said. She hopes to attend the regular women’s lunch and monthly happy hour as well. “I’m so glad I joined ANV.”

All volunteers complete an online orientation and undergo background and driving-record checks.

Zenker found her way to the executive director position after retiring from a career that included serving as senior vice president for the National Council on Aging and chief operating officer for the Corporation for Public Service.

She attended one of the village’s weekly conversation events when organizers announced that they needed an interim director. A neighbor encouraged her to pursue the temporary position.

“I loved work; they loved me. So here I am,” Zenker said.

Arlington Neighborhood Village is a nonprofit that helps older adults continue living in their own homes. It is part of a movement that began in Boston in 1999 and has grown to more than 350 villages across the United States.