Nikki Gibbs was well on her way to having a complete Thanksgiving dinner for her family by Tuesday. However, two days before the holiday, she realized she still needed noodles for her son's beloved Macaroni and cheese. As a Brooklyn resident without a car and with a Walmart more than 4 miles away, in the past, she would have had to rely on a friend's ride or endure a one-way bus commute of over an hour just to pick up a bag of elbow macaroni.

Food Deserts and the Need for Solutions

Brooklyn, along with other neighboring South Baltimore communities, is classified as a food desert by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This means residents have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food. But this year, Gibbs had a better option. She filled out an online form and hopped onto Refuge Ride, a free shuttle bus that picked her up just a few blocks from her house at the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Brooklyn branch and took her to Walmart for her noodle shopping. The entire trip took less than an hour.

Refuge Ride: A Game-Changer

Gibbs, who heard about Refuge Ride from a friend, was the only passenger on the shuttle that Tuesday. Billy Humphrey, the founder of the Brooklyn-based nonprofit City of Refuge, launched the shuttle service in June. The van serves the "South Baltimore 6" communities, including Brooklyn, Cherry Hill, Curtis Bay, Westport, Mt. Winans, and Lakeland. Lakeland is the only neighborhood that is not a food desert.The free bus connects neighbors to "food, pharmacy and fun," with trips to Walgreens, Walmart, and Aldi, as well as the newly built Middle Branch Fitness & Wellness Center in Cherry Hill. It can also drop off riders at transportation hubs, linking them with other attractions. Most riders use the bus to pick up groceries and prescriptions.As Melvin Stone, the shuttle driver, knows all too well, waiting for a bus can be frustrating. When he moved from Alabama to Brooklyn over a decade ago, he initially relied on the bus as his primary means of transportation. There were times when the bus would just keep going, ignoring waiting passengers. Now, he makes sure neighbors don't get left behind. Many of the bus's regular riders are seniors who live alone, and he enjoys chatting with them on the way to and from the store, learning about their lives.On Tuesday, Gibbs shared her Thanksgiving dinner plans, her pit bull's new puppies, and the Nightmare Before Christmas-themed cupcakes she had decorated for a niece's birthday. She said the shuttle is "lovely, especially if you don't have a vehicle in the community."The idea for Refuge Ride took root more than a year ago in the transportation committee of the South Baltimore 7 Coalition (SB7), a group of the South Baltimore 6 communities and the new Baltimore Peninsula development. Humphrey sits on SB7's board and volunteered City of Refuge to run the program. The coalition allocated a $190,000 grant to fund the purchase and operation of the 15-seat, handicap-accessible shuttle.Six months in, the program has seen some success. Humphrey says Refuge Ride has transported 46 unique riders, many of whom take multiple trips. But he hopes to see ridership grow. "We've had enough success that we want to continue to promote it and increase it if we can," he said. With more riders, the shuttle could add night and weekend shifts and target new sources of funding from community organizations and businesses interested in buying ads on the bus. "We're really trying to remove barriers and get the word out," he added.Have a news tip? Contact reporter Amanda Yeager at ayeager@baltsun.com, 443-790-1738 or @amandacyeager on X.