Working for Bermuda Fire & Rescue, Isaiah Caisey noticed many elderly people struggling to access medical care due to a lack of transport.

Sometimes their family members were too busy to take them.

“I thought the least I could do was make transport more accessible,” Mr Caisey said. “I had already been taking some of my relatives to appointments.”

A year ago, Mr Caisey started Especially For You — Non-Emergency Medical Services, his transportation business, out of his own car, transporting the elderly and disabled back and forth to doctor’s appointments, and also doing prescription deliveries for them.

He believes he is one of very few businesses doing this on the island.

“When I went to the Transport Control Department for approval, they were not sure how to classify this because it was the first of its kind,” he said. “That was their words.”

He charges $70 a trip.

“I will stay with the client for the entire visit, if they need me to,” he said.

The cost of a prescription delivery is $15.

From the beginning, it was critical to him that he make the service as affordable as possible.

“I have talked to a few insurance companies to try and get them to pay, rather than having the people who need the service pay,” he said. “I have not had too many bites on that yet.”

He started out using his own small car.

“I was not doing wheelchair accessibility at that time,” he said. “Then I decided it was time to sell my car and get a van.”

He got his new vehicle on the road in January and now has space for four passengers and a wheelchair.

“It has a little step that comes down on the side,” Mr Caisey said. “My clients love that.”

Especially for You has a disability permit that allows him to use disabled parking spaces.

“To get that, I had to get one of my wheelchair-bound clients to write in on my behalf to say that my service was of use to her, given that she was in a wheelchair,” he said.

The permit is helpful because finding parking close to his clients’ destinations can be tough, particularly because he needs extra space when transporting people in wheelchairs.

“I have a ramp that I have to pull out,” he said.

He often finds disabled parking spaces occupied by cars with no disabled parking permits.

“The lack of consideration is irritating,” he said. “Often I am trying to get a client into the doctor’s office on time.”

When he calls people out on their parking, or asks them to move, some motorists apologise, but many do not.

He insists he is not doing it for the money. He loves being of service.

For several months he transported one lady who had been injured in an accident.

“One day she called me and said she didn’t need me any more,” Mr Caisey said. “She could drive herself again. That really made my day.”

A few months later he got another call from her. She had an elderly mother who also needed transport. Now the mother is one of his clients.

Mr Caisey works during his off time with the BFRS. So far, it is just himself doing the driving.

“It is a good thing I am single,” he said. “Otherwise, I would not have time for this.”

Eventually, he would like to scale up, hire drivers and buy more vans. The problem is, he wants to keep his service financially accessible.

“If I did that, I would have to raise my prices,” he said. “I am still trying to figure it out.”

Age Concern members get a 10 per cent discount.

• For more information, call 516-7262.