Ye Ye Mon is 23 years old and a stay at home mother. She has been living in Denver for just under a year. She and her husband have a son named Thao Ka Yan. They are refugees from Burma and before coming to America, they lived in Malaysia for 7 years. Ye Ye Mon takes the bus everyday:

“I take the bus to the clinic, to the Yu Meh food bank and Project Worthmore, to visit friends, and to go to the grocery store. Right now I buy a daily bus pass that is $2.75. I cannot afford to buy a bus pass for a month, right now it is better for me to just buy one day at a time.”

When I first moved to America, I was afraid to go outside. My husband works all day, so I stay at home with our baby. After about six months, I began to feel more comfortable in my neighborhood. I would walk to visit friends in my area. For me to get to appointments and meetings, I have to take the bus. Sometimes it rains or snows, and I feel discouraged to walk outside, but I still have places to go.

The first time I took the bus I was so nervous. I didn’t know how much money to put in the machine, I didn’t know what to do with the ticket, and there can be some scary people on the Colfax bus. It is difficult for me to understand the bus driver and I can’t read the street signs very quickly, so I have missed my stop more than once.

I always have my baby with me when I take the bus. We go to the grocery store and I carry my groceries home. We go to the Project Worthmore office on Wednesday and Friday and I bring fresh vegetables home. We go to the doctor and to appointments with my caseworker.

Now I feel comfortable taking the bus. I know when my stop is coming up and I understand how the routes work. Right now I buy a daily bus pass that is $2.75. I cannot afford to buy a bus pass for a month. Right now it is better for me to just buy one day at a time.

RTD has recently raised the prices on bus passes.

What used to cost a refugee $79 for the month will now cost $99;

that’s a 20 percent increase!

Will you consider giving a bus pass to a refugee?

We hope to raise $12,000 by 2016. We estimate that this will give transportation access to about 101 to 202 refugees depending on the deal that we seal with RTD this next year.

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