Driven by Community, Fueled by YOU!
Every day, CART helps seniors get to medical appointments, workers reach their jobs, and families access essential services. CART ensures that no one is left behind.
Funding for rural transit is limited, and sustaining a service like CART takes the collective effort of everyone who benefits from it—directly or indirectly.
Will you join us by making a donation today in support of public transportation for the residents of Carbon County? Thanks to the generous support of a local donor, all donations will be matched up to $9,000 through July 15.
Your donation will directly improve the lives of your friends and neighbors while making a positive impact in your community because CART:
- contributes to economic growth.
- contributes to independence for our seniors and disabled residents.
- provides access to health care, education, and employment.
- makes our community stronger and increasing its resilience.
- is knitting together the many separate small communities across Carbon County into a more integrated whole, in beneficial ways we’ve never experienced before.
CART Continues to Impact Lives
Marie Fetz (83) has lived in the Pleasantview Apartments in Joliet, MT, the past few years. She has primarily used CART to get to medical appointments at Mountainview Clinic (Intermountain Health) in Red Lodge. Not having a car, she says she is kind of “stuck” at home, and looks forward to “getting out of the house” when she can. “I don’t even mind riding around extra on CART” because she loves “seeing
the countryside around here, and the people I ride with are always great!” Marie is pictured riding CART with Karen Dietz of Bridger, CART’s loyal driver, dispatcher, and scheduler who has helped develop CART’s strong presence in the Clark’s Fork Valley communities.
Kevin Nell, a 61-year-old veteran who lives in Red Lodge, is still an enthusiastic driver, but a series of major knee surgeries caused him to seek out transportation with CART. “My brother, who is a teacher at the high school, tries to take me to the hospital and PT whenever he can, but he simply couldn’t have been able to take off from work and take me to every doctor visit I’ve needed over the past 2-3 years. I appreciate everything you guys do—it’s a critical service. This is NOT a service we can afford to have go away in this mountain town of so many senior citizens.” Kevin is pictured riding CART with other passengers.
Laura Lee, a CART rider from Roberts, says, “CART’s been a BIG blessing to me, especially since I live alone and don’t get to talk to anyone for stretches of time.” Laura is pictured at Mead Lumber purchasing flowers for her home. She also uses CART regularly to get to her daughter’s home in Joliet, so she can take care of her grandkids while their mom works.
Meet Larrie Hayden, Your Carbon County Neighbor
Larrie (81-yrs old) suffers from an autoimmune disease, CIPD, that attacks her nerves and muscles and has put her in a wheelchair, preventing her from driving anymore. She lives, like many of our passengers, in the Campbell Courts apartments in Bridger which provides affordable housing for the elderly and people with disabilities. A friendly and engaging retired nurse who worked at Deaconess/Billings Clinic for 19 years, Larrie has come to rely on CART heavily. Here she is pictured with other passengers aboard the shuttle bus.
“CART has always been available every time I’ve needed it,” said Larrie while riding the CART Shuttle Bus. Larrie is one of the first riders to take advantage of the wheelchair lift on the Bus, and also try our new Express service to Walmart. Larrie has probably used CART “as much as anybody in the past year,” particularly since her husband—a Navy veteran—passed away in early 2024 and she has had to make many trips to Billings to settle social security and veterans benefit issues, and for other medical issues related to her diabetes. Here she is pictured using CART’s wheelchair lift.
Larrie is also someone who recognizes and enjoys the social benefits of riding CART. “It gets people OUT from under their isolation,” she says, “and gives people an opportunity to visit with each other. I know people who ride CART who don’t mind just riding along for the ride and the social outlet.” Of her neighbor Tim, she said, “he’ll often call her up and say, ‘If you go, I’ll go!’” Larrie enjoys her fellow riders so much, sometimes she even buys lunch for the other folks in the van! “CART is just fantastic!” CART manager, David Kallenbach is pictured assisting Larrie to her destination.
CART Connects People to Their Community
CART is Community
Let’s do the math! CART needs to raise $45,000 to meet its funding gap and break even. Will you make a donation today to help your Carbon County friends and neighbors get to where they need to go?
Help Us Reach the Next “Step”
The Roosevelt Center needs your help to complete renovations and fully open the historic third floor recital hall for community use. Once the renovations are complete, you will have the opportunity to enjoy more great performances, live music, workshops, receptions, and expanded youth programming and education.
We have a generous $40,000 matching gift to help us raise our total of $80,000 to put the finishing touches on this space. A donation now will help finish the construction phase, install third-floor air conditioning for August shows, add blinds and rugs to enhance the space, and finish upgrading all of the windows on the 1920’s side of the building. We are all working very hard to raise the remaining funds to complete the current construction phase, while the Center continues to hold events and welcome people for community gatherings, arts & culture activities, meetings, and conferences.
We’re Celebrating Your Giving in Three Ways!
- $1,000 Take the Next “Step” – Have your name put on a step leading to the historic third floor.
- $750 Framing the Future – Bring us an old school photo and a recent picture. We’ll put your “Then” and “Now” pictures on the wall. Don’t have a current picture? We will have one photoshoot day with Schyler Allyn.
- $500 Take a Seat – Have your name put on the back of a chair in the historic Harper Recital Hall.
Each of the above donations can be given in five equal installments over the course of five months. If you are interested in taking a tour, or discussing a different level of giving, please contact:
- Tracy Timmons at tracy@rlacf.org or (406) 425-0292
- Abby Edwards at abby@rlacf.org or (314) 605-7388
Help us take the final step! Any amount will help us reach our goal. Donate today.
Roosevelt Center Timeline
2014-2017 Community Members drove the decision to purchase the Roosevelt Center and created an adaptive Re- Use Strategy and action plan. Numerous community meetings, a Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design workshop & historic preservation workshop were held. $283,000 was raised to purchase the building in 2016-2017 and a Preliminary Architectural Report was completed.
2018-2022 $749,830.55 was raised to install a new heating system, fire sprinkler system and alarm.
2023-2024 $367,578 was awarded by the Montana Department of Commerce Historic Preservation Grant to provide exterior building improvements.
2024-2025 $400,000 was received by MJ Murdock Charitable Trust to install an elevator. A total of $2M has been raised. Funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Montana Main Street, NorthWestern Energy, Beartooth Electric, and individual donors have allowed updates to continue to the outdoor space including installation of outdoor sculpture art, an irrigation well, and a solar system for energy efficiency.
The Red Lodge Area Community Foundation is a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) Organization with a Tax ID 20-0192255
