Photography by Megan Mumford
When Francesca LoPorto-Brandow’s father was battling cancer, her family put nearly 16,000 miles on their car driving to and from treatment.
“During that time, I couldn’t help but think, what do people do when they don’t have someone to drive them?” she says. “Do they give up? Do they just make do with what they have and not see a specialist? I couldn’t imagine not being able to not seek care at a time when you really need it the most.”
So, LoPorto-Brandow, a cancer survivor herself, took matters into her own hands. She spoke with local travel service Yankee Trails about running a bus a few days a week specifically for Capital Regionites seeking medical appointments with specialists in larger metropolitan areas. And with that, the Flutter Express was born.
The Flutter Express tour bus makes trips to New York City and Boston every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday that there’s a need, departing from Rensselaer and stopping in Albany (and Catskill, for NYC trips) on the way. Tickets are $79 for healthcare seekers, and $85 for companions. That’s cheaper than taking any other mode of transportation, but LoPorto-Brandow found that there was still a financial barrier for some people. To help cover the costs, she partnered with other nonprofits, including the NYOH Community Cancer Foundation, which will pay for patients to take the Flutter Express. But those organizations specifically cover patients seeking treatment for cancer. For everyone else—individuals in need of an organ transplant, or the 18-month-old sister of two brothers that are receiving ongoing adrenal cancer care—there’s Flutter Club.
In addition to covering the cost of rides for both patients and companions, Flutter Club also provides Flutter Express passengers with curated care packages full of healthcare journey essentials like a pill case, travel pillow, and treatment hoodie (the arms zip open), as well as a host: LoPorto-Brandow and other volunteers actually ride the bus with the passengers.
“This isn’t just a bus,” LoPorto-Brandow says. “This is a service—it’s an experience. There’s a host that people can talk to that’s going to make sure you have what you need on your journey.”
