Transportation Reimagined: How Paratransit is Transforming Mobility in Our Region.

What happens when transportation goes beyond simply moving people from point A to point B? Join me as I sit down with Tiffani Scott, President and CEO, of Paratransit to explore an innovative approach to community mobility that has been shaping Sacramento for over 45 years. Tiffani unveils the dynamic role Paratransit plays in the community, offering more than just rides—it's about delivering meals, providing travel training, and creating access to essential services for those who need it most. From assisting individuals with disabilities to pioneering national mobility programs, Paratransit's efforts are reshaping the landscape of public transportation well beyond the greater Sacramento region.

Discover how Paratransit stepped up during the pandemic to address critical issues like food insecurity and healthcare access. With innovative programs such as Great Plates and Home to Health Care, Tiffani shares how the organization partnered with local chefs and nonprofits to deliver meals and connect residents to vital healthcare services. These initiatives highlight a profound philosophy: food is medicine. And by integrating nutritious food access with medical care, Paratransit is not only reducing emergency room visits but also improving overall community well-being.

Throughout the episode, we'll uncover the strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts that underpin Paratransit's success. With service on over 600 vehicles and an impressive network of nonprofit collaborations, Paratransit is revolutionizing how transportation services are delivered. Tiffani shares insights into initiatives like the Metro Hub and how the organization manages to keep costs low while expanding their reach. This episode is a testament to the power of community-focused mobility solutions, demonstrating how access to transportation can empower individuals and enhance the quality of life for everyone in the Sacramento region.  Through her leadership, Tiffani is literally changing the definition of what it means to get from point A to B. 

Thank you so much for listening! We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates. https://www.nonprofpod.com/ And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing.

Transcript

Tiffani Scott: [00:00:00] I like to tell my staff, if you think about like a wheel, there's the center spoke and then there's all the branches that come out of it. I'd love to say the paratransit's that centerpiece. And so all of those spokes are the different things we do to connect. And some of them we provide ourselves, whether it's a solution that we feel the need like home to health care, people to produce or our regional center work that we do directly.

There might be someone who's never been to Sacramento before and doesn't know how to get around and they're able to now access a resource to find all of the ways to move around. But the goal is we want to be that center of that spoke that can help provide those connections to everyone. And it's ultimately, it takes all of it to make the wheel go around.

Jeff Holden: Hi, I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the nonprofit podcast network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a nonprofit organization in each weekly episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story. In their words, to better inform and [00:01:00] educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

Our goal is to help build stronger communities through shared voices and to both encourage and support the growth of local nonprofit organizations through podcasting. Thanks to our founding partners for their foresight in helping us transform the way conversations start. CAPTRUST fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations.

Runyan Saltzman Incorporated, RSE, marketing, advertising and Public Relations, creating integrated communications committed to improving lives and Western Health Advantage, a full service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, and families. Before the episode begins, I wanna take a minute to share that.

We now have a website where you can sign up to get our weekly email updates on the latest episodes, transcripts to prior episodes. And see what else we have going on. Please be sure to register so you never miss an episode or any other important [00:02:00] information we may have to share in the nonprofit space.

You can find us now at nonprofpod. com. That's nonprofpod. com. You'll also notice on the website, a microphone in the lower right hand corner. By clicking on it, you'll be able to leave me voicemail messages. Maybe a question you'd like me to ask our guests. Or just a comment on the program. I may even play your message in an upcoming episode.

I look forward to more engagement with you as we continue to grow and better serve our nonprofit community. Thanks. Transportation. For most of us, we know what it looks like. You hop in the car and you go where we choose to go. Maybe you hop on a bike or a plane or a train or light rail, if you will. But it's not that easy for everyone.

What about those with physical challenges? What about those with intellectual disabilities? What if you're new to town and have no idea how to get from wherever you are to wherever you need to go? [00:03:00] Think about it for a minute. Medical appointments, work, financial support services, you name it. When you have to get somewhere, you have to know how to make that happen.

Thankfully, there's an organization in town that is doing that and so much more. Way beyond what you expect of a transportation service. Way beyond Vital Lifelines. We're talking about impactful mobility solutions that are empowering our region with innovative initiatives and getting recognized nationally for the work being done to keeping our community moving.

Paratransit is like no other organization I've spoken with. And Tiffany Scott is one of the most creative, solutions based, and action oriented leaders to sit across from me in studio. What she's done with this organization throughout her 12 years at the helm is nothing short of amazing. Tiffany Scott, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network.

Tiffani Scott: Thank you for having me. 

Jeff Holden: I am so excited and [00:04:00] you are the last of a group of people that I had the privilege of speaking with at Sac State. Oh, early in the year, I think it was February or March. And to date, I have had everybody from that panel now as guests on social enterprise that have now been in the studio and and their episodes.

You are the last of that group and I'm so excited to have you on because it's taken us a while to get you in here. 

Tiffani Scott: Well, thank you so much for having me and I've been looking forward to this, so I'm glad we could get it to finally come to fruition. 

Jeff Holden: Many of us recognize paratransit vehicles. You've been around town for 45 years shuttling people back and forth and we see those little mini buses and other types of vehicles.

But I don't think people recognize the scope of service that you provide. We see them. We're really not sure what they're doing. We know they transport people with mobility issues, maybe walkers or wheelchairs or people with disabilities, but What you do is so much more than that. Could you [00:05:00] walk us through the scope of what we see going on with those vehicles?

Tiffani Scott: Absolutely. So, paratransit has been around since 1978. And I think, We're one of those agencies that for a long time, we did a really great job and people, if you set our name, people say, Oh, they're great, but then you wouldn't think about us. And so Kim Tucker, who's actually on our board from Impact Foundry had said, you know, we need to become our best storyteller.

So paratransit started before there was an Americans with Disabilities Act, really about mobility. How do we get people who have the greatest need to the locations they need to be in? And in 1981, we were actually bestowed with a designation as the Consolidated Transportation Center. for Sacramento County.

It's a designation that's in state law bestowed to us by SACOG or the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. We're actually the first agency bestowed with this designation in the state of California. So we were the longest holding and that's because it's actually created based off of the work we were doing.

And so it was actually something [00:06:00] they put into law to encourage other agencies to do it. And so, um, While we've had a long history of doing the transportation and a lot of people had identified us with what we used to do, which was a lot of work with Sacramento Regional Transit, really what kind of got lost was that, what do we do ourselves?

And so, in addition to transporting persons with disabilities, and we actually aren't the partner with SacRT for, uh, the day to day service. We do services for the regional center, which is where you see a lot of the buses going around, but people may not know that we deliver food boxes to seniors for the food bank for Sacramento food bank and family services.

We transport a lot of social service transportation. So we take seniors on any bus. outings. We take a lot of youth to some of the greatest places in the region, like the mosaic and other field trips. We do work for a lot of community events, such as the air show iron man. And when the homeless world cup came in, we did all the transportation for that.

We have an incredible maintenance shop where we not only maintain our vehicles, but we maintain fleets of United Cerebral Palsy, Asian [00:07:00] Community Center, the food bank. We do a large group of taxis. So when you look at the vehicles we service, we service probably five to six hundred vehicles in our shop.

Oh my gosh. Where we only operate a fraction of that ourselves. And so we do that. We have mobility and travel training programs across the region where we teach people how to ride and do volunteer driver and other programs. And then we actually have a consulting service and have done work across the country from Honolulu, Hawaii to New York City, 

Jeff Holden: New York.

And so those would be, because you're such an exemplary organization based out of little old Sacramento, you get the notoriety and recognition for the scope of service in these other markets that say, Hey, what is it you're doing and how are you doing it? 

Tiffani Scott: Correct. So there are a lot of things. So travel training, United States is teaching people how to ride the system.

Paratransit was the innovator in that space. We came in first. And so there's a lot of the work that we've done that we've really prided ourselves as an agency of being at the [00:08:00] forefront. And we continue to really look at ways to be on that cutting edge. We're not scared to try new things and deploy new services.

And so we're constantly looking at that. And we have the Flexibility to be able to deploy and then go into larger agencies who maybe don't have the agility. We have to get something started. But once it's there and it's tested, we could come in. And so we were able to in Hawaii, Boston and others take our mobility programs and our 80 a program.

So certification programs to take them in there. And actually, they hired us to do those programs for them. 

Jeff Holden: Just out of curiosity, teaching people how to ride, what does that mean? 

Tiffani Scott: So when we teach someone how to use a service, part of it is can they? So the way the system is developed for public transportation is that public transportation, like a big bus you see going down the street, is designed to transport everyone.

But the reality is not everyone has the physical or mental capability of using that vehicle. And so the first step for someone who maybe can't or doesn't think they can, is they can meet [00:09:00] with us. It's free of charge. And we will do a determination on do you have what it takes to even travel train you.

If it's not safe, if we don't believe you can safely be out there, we won't travel train you. We will help you go through the process of being certified for paratransit services, which is a door to door service, or find one of the other programs in the region. But if we believe you can safely travel, we will actually work with you on where are you going, when do you need to be there, and help you identify the best path of travel.

We will actually walk you through that, everything from what would you need from fare collection or pass, to where would you ride a bus or transfer, whether it's bus, light rail, some of the other services. And we will walk you through how to do that, but then we will actually start with our trainers taking you side by side and walking you through it.

We will take you out again and do that. And eventually we will start to pull back and have you take the lead and we will shadow you until we believe that you're okay to go out on your own. So it's a multi step approach where we will actually walk you hand in hand to get you successfully to there. And it's all free of charge to the client.

And if you've been trained [00:10:00] once and you need refresher training, there's never, We never say no. We also have a lot of clients who maybe got trained to school and now they want to be trained to work or they've changed employers or they decide they want to do some social activities. So we train a lot of people to get out and about.

Jeff Holden: Boy, what a, what a service to give people the confidence that they can actually get out of the house. They can get from point A to B once they learn and feel capable and competent and you're with them every step of the way. 

Tiffani Scott: Correct. And there's a big misnomer too that the only people we travel train are seniors or persons with disabilities.

We actually will travel train anyone of any ability who wants to learn how to get out and about. So maybe you've never gone to a Kings game and you want to go downtown, but you don't want to deal with the parking. We can teach you how to make that trip to get to that concert, to get to that game on transit, and we'll either, we can go from everything of teaching you how to do it over the phone and giving you what you need to do it, to actually taking you out.

We've taken groups on outings for like a social event to teach them how to get downtown. So anyone who wants to ride, we want to teach. 

Jeff Holden: And [00:11:00] almost to any place, it sounds like. Pretty much. It's anywhere in the six county 

Tiffani Scott: region. We can. So, SACOG's region is six counties, and so we can travel train anywhere in those six counties, and we can travel train within the county.

So, you can go from West Sac to Folsom, or you can go from Elk Grove up to Yuba City. We were not confined to one jurisdiction. 

Jeff Holden: Well, even significantly important for families with children old enough to travel and travel safely that don't know. And maybe the parents don't understand how to make it happen, but you can teach the children how to do it, whether it be getting to school or classes or museums or concerts.

Tiffani Scott: Actually, a few years ago, right before the pandemic, we started a program, we call it transportation literacy. So there's a lot of discussion that you need to teach financial literacy to high school students. What we believe you need to teach transportation literacy. A lot of people think, I have a car. I can get there.

But the reality is not everyone has a car and sometimes your car breaks. Sometimes you need a second ride home. Maybe you'll find yourself in a situation where you went to a party with friends and you don't want to be there anymore. And so what we have done is started working closely with [00:12:00] young adults.

So primarily from about 14 to 24. Where we will actually teach them how to ride the system, how to prepare. We aligned closely with thousand strong, which was the mayor's initiative. So that if you're going to pick an internship, a big part of keeping your internship is getting to your job. And so it's not only about picking the internship you want, but learning to pick the internship.

You can actually reliably get to, and then how do you read a timetable? How do you know how to get there? And for those who have. Those cars, it's how do you have that second backup when maybe it's mom's your car, but mom's car broke down and she needs to take your car today and you need to get to where you're going.

Well, now you have options. And so we've tried to give that option because if you can teach someone how to do that in Sacramento, they can ride the transit service in San Francisco, in New York, in Paris, in Tokyo. It's a skill that once you know what you're doing, it gives you mobility anywhere you go. 

Jeff Holden: I remember that when I was a kid.

Growing up in Chicago, it's my gosh, I gotta get on this bus, I remember taking rides to the end of the bus line. I did it in New [00:13:00] York as an adult, for gosh sakes, because I wasn't paying attention. And had to come all the way back. So what a great service. What a great service. I think so many people don't realize how many things you provide.

We just tend to think it's for people with disabilities, maybe seniors, and that's the extent of it. But it's much, much more than that. 

Tiffani Scott: Well, and when we started, our name really leaned into that. So we were paratransit before the ADA paratransit. So if you look at our buses today, they actually say PI Solutions.

And so we've over time really kind of worked towards that, that while paratransit is our name, PI Solutions is the idea of we're a solutions based agency. So there are a lot of mobility. challenges in the region that different individuals and agencies face because we don't only provide individual solutions, we do a lot of agency work.

And so the idea is we're an agency about solutions and we're interested in partnering with people to get their probability solutions solved. So it really kind of leads into the idea of bring us your problem, we'll help you find your solution. 

Jeff Holden: And you are [00:14:00] very progressive in the things that you do. You look for opportunities to Fund and support by community need.

I know you've got a couple of unique programs that we wanted to touch base on, home to health care and people to produce. Go ahead. I know they're exciting for you. 

Tiffani Scott: So it started originally with people to produce. So during the pandemic, a lot of our clients ended up being at home, they were the most at risk.

And so they followed the orders to shelter in place. But we didn't want to just say, okay, they're at home. We have no need. Literally the day that the governor and the mayor announced the shelter in place order, I reached out to the city council and asked, okay, so if we can't take people to things, let's start talking about how we take things to people.

And within a few days we were delivering meals. And so we were very fortunate to partner with chef Mulvaney and Clay netting and others as part of family meal family meal became the basis for statewide great plates delivered. And so we were the delivery agency for that. We were delivering [00:15:00] hot meals. No meal was on a bus more than two hours.

It was 1100 meals from 42 restaurants. every day. And then you're doing the food bank on top of that. And so we really kind of got in this food space. And we knew that as much as this was an issue, it wasn't just a pandemic based issue. It's the pandemic really highlighted, which we knew was a problem. And so part of that is being in city, in a city that is so agriculturally rich.

I think people think of us as the capital city. They forget that Sacramento is this huge hub of agriculture and we have the abundance of farmers markets and things that aren't other places. That's why our midtown market, you know, was third in the country. That's not by accident. That's by design. But it's amazing how many people can't get to it.

And when you look at the data and we got a chance as being part of these initiatives to see mobility and access are the greatest challenges to keeping people from getting the things they need. And so one of the big issues that came to play was that there are food deserts all over the Sacramento [00:16:00] region.

We're, we have this abundance of food, but there's neighborhoods without grocery stores, without reliable connecting service to things like the farmer's markets. And so we actually put in a grant to the USDA in partnership with Alchemist, another great nonprofit. And we were able to secure funds. I believe it was the first transportation grant from the USDA in the region to provide a shuttle to the Florin Road farmer's market.

And so the shuttle's free of charge, and it takes people from South Sacramento to the farmer's market so they can access produce. It was designed not only to be an access grant, but also to be a local economic development grant, because it's good for the farmers. And so we really look for things where it's not just solving one problem, it's taking people who have the greatest need and connecting them with a business that's looking for a clientele and can, really looks for that.

So, That program was highly successful. We talked about a lot in DC and people really liked it. And so we were able to secure additional funding for that. There are now five people to produce routes. [00:17:00] We will be hopefully in the next year, launching more that connect to multiple farmers markets, whether it's the downtown markets, but we also connect to food banks and so we, and food distribution sites, knowing that not all of the markets are year round, we're very fortunate that they are.

The one closest to us, Florin is, but the routes are designed to connect every RT bus and light rail along the way. So they are also great first last mile connectors. So you can use them to get to produce, but you can also get use them. If there is a need to get to regular transit, there is no charge. And so the service is there to connect people.

And from that. We looked at the idea. It's initiative Valley Visions working on, which is that food is medicine. And if you think about it, Sacramento is very wealthy in the number of hospital systems we have in medical, but yet people overwhelmingly still see triage as a solution. The emergency rooms considered to be flooded.

That provides not necessarily the best care, but also very expensive care. And so we looked at, is there a [00:18:00] way to take what we did with people to produce and also bring that into the healthcare space? And so we developed home to healthcare, which is additional routes. There's nine pairs. So it's actually 18 of one and 10 of the other that connect to every major hospital.

And so they go also connect community clinics from SNAHC, WellSpace and others so that people can get to visits. And the idea is people are going to the doctor, but if it's not convenient or they can't get to an appointment, they'll tend not to go and then they end up back in the emergency room.

Jeff Holden: Exacerbates the situation. 

Tiffani Scott: If we can spend 1 and we can save 5 because the trans and be preventative, we can result get an outcome where the person's healthier and we save money doing it. By providing access, we need to do that. And actually, if you think about it, people to produce and home to health care work perfectly together.

Because let's say you have a client who's struggling with health issues such as diabetes, you don't want to just treat the diabetes. Part of that is access to healthy, [00:19:00] nutritious food. And so by having these routes, it allows them to access their doctor. But then if they need to get to that market to get that fresh food, we can get them there too.

So the idea is that they work in tandem because It's not just about health care. It's about nutrition. And so how do we make this region have access but actually have healthier outcomes so that the neighborhoods we serve have a higher quality of life? 

Jeff Holden: Well, it is so fortunate that we have people like Blake Young at the Sacramento Food Bank and Patrick Mulvaney with Mulvaney's who understand the value of the nutritious food.

It's not just about feeding people, it's feeding them the proper way because then that's back to prevention for health care. Correct. If you're eating properly, the likely is you can, you can diminish some of those ailments that you have. But if you don't have transportation, you're going to eat what you can get.

Correct. And what a, what a service. I mean, just what a service to think that you were able to get that in place, and now through its success, it's going to continue to grow. Benefits the community in so many different ways. 

Tiffani Scott: The hope is that this becomes not only a model [00:20:00] for Sacramento, but we've actually been able to go back to D.

C. and create a model for how transportation can look in the country. And for me, I look at it, I've kind of coined the phrase purpose built transit. So transit needs to be a lot of things, but sometimes I think we, we hesitate to look at. Why are people writing? Oh, they're going to the store, but why are they going to that location?

They're going to the location because they're food insecure, they're going to a food bank because they're struggling. So the issue is, can we provide solutions that look more at the reason people are writing? And when you look at things like that, and you look at the number of transfers people have to make or the timing of it, can you just be more purposeful by design and how you do that?

And so it allows us to change the KPIs to not only being how many people wrote. But maybe only half as many people rode as would ride a normal service. But those five people, let's say, instead of ten in that hour. have a healthier outcome, and they stayed out of the emergency room, and they're no longer hungry, and their kids are attending school more frequently.[00:21:00] 

Those KPIs outpace just that looking at the, was it a transit rider? We're looking at the bigger picture, which is the impact in the community. And those five people can have a tremendous impact, not only to their own personal life, but to the expenditure of resources, which allows for more people to be served, more access, and then ultimately, it changes the health outcomes, which is a huge issue.

Jeff Holden: And that's, that's, I think, the key point for the community benefit. If we can change that health outcome, we can get it to a preventative basis as opposed to a symptom treatment basis. The pressure's off of so many different organizations in a different way. And now that person is capable of working. And we know that if they need a way to get to work.

You've got it. Correct. It's just a full 360 in the beneficial aspect of it to the community. How many vehicles do you have in service? At 

Tiffani Scott: peak right now driving, we have about 25, but that is a big kind of understatement of what we do. So we We have the services we directly provide, but we are a huge [00:22:00] partnership agency, so in addition to the vehicles we're operating at Peak Service, we have another 75 vehicles we've made available to our partner agencies that they're driving and they're providing trips in because we work closely with non profits to identify their gaps.

And so if you have agencies who have clients, but we can provide them a vehicle and they can do additional transportation, we will actually look at that. loan them that vehicle. We have programs where we actually reimburse mileage and insurance and do training to incentivize people to do it. So between our vehicles and that it's about 100.

But then we actually through our other services such as maintenance and other things service about another 500. I 

Jeff Holden: remember you saying that was going to go back to that and you said another service for 500. So 600 vehicles in play. in some way, shape or form throughout the year. That's an amazing logistical nightmare from my perspective.

From yours, I'm sure this is what you do. Correct. And you've, you've got all the logistics to manage all this stuff. Is, is that proprietary? 

Tiffani Scott: So, No, it's a lot of work, but we [00:23:00] actually, well, some things we do, we do like the paratransit way. So our maintenance shop, I think is the greatest example of that. So nothing we do is proprietary, but a lot of it is based on as a nonprofit, we have very favorable rates.

So we have a lot of clients who come to us because we can actually beat the rate of a shop, but it's more than that. We have the expertise. So if you have a lift equipped vehicle, we have expertise in that, but a lot of people don't know that our shop. So if you're a small nonprofit and you have one or two vehicles or you have a pickup truck and you need it to be done because a lot of the service isn't just about the maintenance, it's about the reporting.

You get a grant, you now have to report and turn in reports that you're maintaining that vehicle correctly, that you're meeting the service intervals. We actually, for our clients, provide all of that. We will track the vehicle. You send us your mileage. We track it. We tell you when it's due to service. We give you all the reporting.

We make sure it's meeting all the requirements for things like the California Highway Patrol. So that. For a lot of nonprofits we work with, that's a problem. That's just resources they don't have. That's a staff person that they don't have expertise in because if their [00:24:00] expertise is food or their expertise is working with persons with disabilities, they don't generally have staff who just do that.

We do. So we can do that for them. But on the software side, we actually have a full development team and so we've developed innovative software. So the software that we've gone into these other areas with, we actually have software that competes with the private market where we use our own software. In house developed software, and we've actually had agencies who rent that software or lease that software, just like you would buy a piece of software like Microsoft, and they can use it to access.

Jeff Holden: And that's going to get us to the next question in a second because one of the things that I'm seeing is this is the collective. We talk about the ability for nonprofits to not duplicate every effort. And if we can minimize some of that, whatever it happens to be, here's one of the perfect example. If you have a transportation need, maybe you even have the vehicle, but you don't have the person to [00:25:00] do all the proper thing.

If you do, they're taking way too much time. It's an inordinate amount of time because that's not what they do on a day to day basis, but you do it for them. That's amazing 

Tiffani Scott: when we have the ability because of our size to do things like loaner fleet and be able to do the transportation. Our shop is open from 5 a.

m. till 10 p. m. at night so we can do before work or after work. So we've really tried to look at how we can partner with others to make it better. And I think that's part of what makes paratransit unique is that we don't judge our success only. By the things that we provide, but it's the wins that our partners have.

So when they're able to transport more people or we work closely with river city food bank. And so like Amanda McCarthy was talking to us about how we were able to help them with some of their vehicles. You know, those are resources they don't have. And she's told us repeatedly, that means that they can use their resources to help more people with what they do.

And we count that as one of our wins because if people are ultimately more people are helped because we were involved, it doesn't matter if we did directly or That's a win for the community. And so [00:26:00] our agency is largely based on partnerships. And so we don't see those wins as just what did we do, but how do we all work together?

How can we help others meet their goals? How can we help them save money? Because obviously with nonprofits, cost is there. So it's kind of a unique thing. A lot of our maintenance. Um, clients come to us because we can provide them great service for cheaper than they might get it on the commercial market.

But then, when you think about it, when they're paying us, we're putting that money into services we're providing to the public. So it's more people, both agencies save money and both agencies give more service out to the public. So it's always a win win situation and that we try to find those wherever we can.

Jeff Holden: And that's what it's about. We've had Amanda in here, you know, another great organization. I'm smiling as you're going through the organizations, because I think, okay, we've had them in that chair. We've had them in that chair. He's been in that chair. Nobody has had this much. connectivity to the people we speak with.

And we are not specific in a particular category, obviously. I mean, we, we're [00:27:00] talking about the, you know, the app for transportation. Well, visit Sacramento, Mike Testa. Mike's been in that area. And who would think that paratransit would be in that space? And of course, you know, UCP and, or the food banks. And it's just amazing the, the scope of what you do.

I think we all take for granted that that's somebody else. It's not paratransit. 

Tiffani Scott: I always look at it. I, I like to tell my staff, if you think about like a wheel, there's the center spoke and then there's all the branches that come out of it. Think of a bicycle wheel. I'd love to say the paratransit's that centerpiece.

And so all of those spokes are the different things we do to connect. And some of them we provide ourselves, whether it's a solution that, you know, We feel the need like home to health care people to produce or our regional center work that we do directly and the end user is our clientele. It's our design, but a lot of those clients are exactly what you said.

There are other agencies. We're developing a program that's launching called Metro Hub, which is a one stop shop for travel in the region. You know, the client there might be someone who's never been to Sacramento before, doesn't know how to get around, and they're able to now [00:28:00] access a resource to find all of the ways to move around.

But the goal is we want to be that center of that spoke that can help provide those connections to everyone, and it ultimately, it takes all of it to make the wheel go around. 

Jeff Holden: Mm hmm. You mentioned staff. How many people do you have? 

Tiffani Scott: So currently we have just less than 100 full time employees. So a large non profit, at our largest we were bigger when we did the work for ADA, but still not a small non profit.

No, not at all. It's a combination of drivers, mechanics, administrative, staff, mobility staff, incredibly dedicated. People who every day come in and play an amazing role. 

Jeff Holden: Tiffany Scott's team is amazing at keeping our city rolling and helping us get from point A to B. But how they do that and how it's paid for is what we'll be talking about next, right after we hear from the people who make this program possible.

I was in the media business for over 35 years and had the great privilege of working with Runyon Saltzman, RSE, Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations. We collaborated [00:29:00] on many different campaigns, but their commitment to the nonprofit sector hasn't changed since their founder Gene Runyon started the agency.

Over many years and many campaigns, Runyon Saltzman has been committed to improving lives by tackling California's most challenging issues. Guided by research informed strategies and insightful, creative solutions, RSE develops innovative communications campaigns that raise awareness, Educate and reduce stigma in diverse communities throughout our state and beyond.

To learn more about RSE, visit rs e. com. 

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAP Trust in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations. Annually, we survey private and public nonprofit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment.

In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement all term investments. If you would [00:30:00] like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottthomasatcaptrust. com. 

Jeff Holden: I'm thrilled to have Western Health Advantage partnering with us as they do so much to support so many non profit agencies in our community.

As a truly local health plan, you'll find individual and family options, employer options, plans for CalPERS and Medicare Advantage. From medical services to pharmacy, health and wellness support, as well as behavioral health care, Western Health Advantage has a plan that fits what you need as an employer for profit or non profit business.

Next question flows into, you've got all this activity, you've mentioned grants, a hundred people almost. How are you funded? 

Tiffani Scott: So, we are probably the most non traditional non profit when it comes to how we're funded. Why am I not surprised at this point? In that a large portion of our funding is actually more governmental.

So, we are a quasi [00:31:00] public non profit. We actually have a Public agency designation in the state of California. So most people don't know we're on the secretary of state's roster of public agencies for the work we do in the region, but we are funded through measure a. So if you, every few years, you'll hear that the Sacramento transportation authority has a sales.

Tax on the funds, transportation. They actually fund paratransit, which allows us to fund the other partners. A lot of people don't know that that provides for services. We also get sales tax dollars through the transportation development act, same as like Sacramento regional transit or Yolo transit or Roseville.

So those are large sources. We are a large recipient of federal grants, so we are able to access funding from the Federal Transit Administration, just like the transit operators, and then we do a lot of work for the regional center, so we have a lot of contract work, but the maintenance shop is like what I like to call our bake sale, so we do a lot of.

in house generation. So that maintenance services, those contracted services where we contract out, we've actually been able to do that. And those are as a nonprofit, you can have a piece that's for profit. And [00:32:00] so those actually drive in revenue, but overwhelmingly we are not a fundraising nonprofit. We only fundraise once a year.

We do a holiday gift campaign. We do 3000 boxes each year that are delivered to persons in need that have blankets and other warm and cozy items in them. And we fundraise for that, but that's the only time we fundraise. 

Jeff Holden: The size of the budget, how big is your budget? 

Tiffani Scott: So our annual budget is about 12 million operating close to 15 million with capital.

So as nonprofits go, we are a very large nonprofit, 

Jeff Holden: but I'm amazed at how much you're doing. In my mind, with relatively little funding, that's, again, the touch points you've got in the community are so significant and so broad. Six counties is not easy. 

Tiffani Scott: So I really pride ourselves in the fact that we try to be very efficient.

And I think it's those partnerships and being able to leverage existing resources. So with our partnership agreements for like the [00:33:00] vehicles. It's not carrying the cost of the whole program, because let's say we partner with Easter Seals. They've been our partner for years. Let's say that we give them a vehicle so that they can do it, but they're covering the labor cost.

We're covering incidental costs. The result of that partnership is that we can both do more, but we're not having to cover 100 percent of the cost, and they're not covering 100 percent of the cost. We're able to leverage our dollars to go farther. And so by doing that, if you look at our cost to operate, even traditional transit service, we're some of the lowest in the world.

And that's because we're able to be very cost conscious, and because we have a very diverse array of programs, such as the maintenance, we're able to spread our overhead differently, and we're always looking at that. How can we be more efficient? How can we bring in software things to be able to do things in a more efficient way?

Because ultimately, as a non profit, our goal isn't to, you know, It's to provide more service, and so we're always looking at how can we do that, and is there something we can bring on? Is there something we can add? Is there a value add to that? [00:34:00] Even if it's net neutral, our board is very big on it. It doesn't have to be something that generates revenue.

It's just a net neutral item. We're interested in that, and I think that's one of the great things about being a non profit. And in the non profit space, it's not about how much will I make, it's can it cover its cost. And if the answer is yes, then it's a lot easier to go for it. 

Jeff Holden: You have an innate ability to identify the need.

in the community when it comes to a transportation mobility issue, because you are so prolific in so many organizations. And you, you touched on Metro Hub a little bit. Let's expand a little bit more because that's yours. That's your development, your concept, your origination. It's not for challenged mobility.

It's for the population at large, including the guests that come to the, to the city. Go ahead and explain that a little more. 

Tiffani Scott: So Metro Hub is a brand new initiative that's being launched and it is, it's designed not only for those who have mobility challenges, it's actually designed for everyone. So picture yourself flying [00:35:00] into Sacramento International Airport.

You haven't been here before. You need to get around. There's a transit system. There are, you know, usually a lot of people just go to the rental car and they drive and they use that, but not everybody wants to, and it's expensive. But let's say you also want to get out and about. The idea was to create a one stop shop.

And so it's starting with a website. That website is fully interactive. So you can call us, you can use the website. You can actually direct chat to a live agent. Who's actually one of my staff. It's not a bot. Who's going to 

Jeff Holden: tell you. answer your question when you 

Tiffani Scott: correct. So it's staffed Monday through Friday.

Eventually it'll be staffed more. But let's say you're coming into town and you want to know, Hey, I'm going to be coming into town. I'm going to be getting downtown. How can I get there? I want some downtown. I want to go out and see wine tasting in Clarksburg or I want to go up to Roseville or I want to go up to Apple Hill.

How would I get there? What are my options? You would actually be able to communicate with our staff. And we would be able to tell you all of your options. Are you looking for a car? Are you interested in transit? Are you [00:36:00] willing to, how far are you willing to walk? Are you willing to consider a bike? But it also, beyond the travel, is for commuters.

So let's say you're now looking to commute. Maybe you're wanting to get to work. So if you're out of your car and you don't want to sit in the traffic, you'd like to be on a bus or a van pool or a car pool, instead of having to look up and call numerous agencies to figure out what the solutions are, you can actually come to us and we'll let you know which van pools have availability, which programs are offered, what subsidies look like and help you navigate through and then based on your interest, we will give you travel instructions on how to do that, provided if it involves it.

a transit media, we can help you get connected to the connect card, which is the seamless fare card, go through the process of applying, but we can do all of that for you so that you have somebody with you, you don't have to figure it out yourself. And then if you've never ridden transit before, and you are considering maybe commuting that way, we can actually put our travel trainer with you and take you out and show you how to do it.

Which bus stop, which travel platform, how to board light rail, how to pay a fare. It's amazing [00:37:00] how many people who've never ridden don't know. It's a lot of the public. We will do that. And that's all available free of charge to you. So we're not only going to give you a list of what's available, but we're going to hand you the resources and the training that you need to be successful to make those trips.

And it's all free to the end user. 

Jeff Holden: What a, what a cool concept for a, a visit city where people are coming from wherever they come from, wherever they want to go to, to have this one stop tool. I can only imagine how valuable it is as it gets up and running. And once people share it and they start talking about it, I mean, whenever I travel, I recognize the challenges I've got.

If I don't know where I'm really going and how do I get to, to, to where's, where's the deeper, where's the car rental agency. You know, it's not obvious in some cases at some airports. I mean, just the simplicity of what that will do and provide for a visitor to the community. It's amazing. It's just amazing.

Tiffani Scott: And that's the hope, because while it's great to have a car, a lot of times you miss out [00:38:00] on things when you're just in your car, too. And we don't want people, well, we want people to come downtown and obviously shop downtown. We want them to see more of the region. We'd like them to stay longer. But weather's an issue, so if you're interested in getting to Tahoe, if you've ever taken the train, we can teach you how to connect to the Capitol Corridor.

We can get you into the Bay Area. We can get you, it's a hub, and so a lot of It is not just about how to get around the region, but how to get in and out of the region. There are a lot of people who have never gotten outside of their car to travel. And so our hope is, can we help you do that? Even if it's, you're interested in, it's the holidays and you want to go see the holiday tree in old Sacramento.

Scott Thomas: Yes. 

Tiffani Scott: I mean, you want to see the theater of lights or you want to go to a King's game or our concert, but you don't want to park. We can help you explore how you can do that. That might be your first. Transit trip, or it might be a ride share trip, we can help you coordinate what that looks like. You don't have to do it yourself.

You have a trusted partner who's going to be there, who's going to give you resources. And the best part is we're not just going to tell you, we're going to actually email you a written form. So you'll have it in hand to take with you. 

Jeff Holden: And I always refer, and I do it myself, whenever I [00:39:00] travel, I love to take the local transportation.

If it's Chicago, it's the Yale. If it's a subway, if it's New York. Just to get a feel for the city, to just really understand it a little bit differently. This gives us the ability to share that with somebody who's coming in for the first time, who wants to feel the city a little bit differently. And to know that, oh, we do have alternative transportation other than that rental car that you're not going to get out of, and really get a sense of what's happening.

And we have so much to offer. 

Tiffani Scott: Absolutely. And this was kind of born out of the idea that we do a lot of transportation, obviously in the mobility space for those who are seniors or disabled. We also do a lot of work with youth and others, but we've done a lot of work with the air show and we do all the transportation for the homeless world cup and a lot of that, or Ironman is we have people at the airport.

We need to get them in. We did work for wounded warrior. And so it, it, it kind of was this idea of, well, we're going to So these are people you knew to reach out, but what about the average person who's not part of an organization? How can we provide that same resource? And does it always have to be, we're [00:40:00] providing the ride.

There are other rides. How can we connect them to those buses? How do we get people to be able to independently navigate these needs because we knew the need was there. And then conversely, when you have these large groups come in, how can we work with these agencies who are coming to explore Sacramento, who want to spend more time here, these big conferences and conventions?

They need to get downtown. It's not just about the hotel logistics or the program logistics, but transportation and access is such a part of it, or we'll have people come in for the chambers who want to get out and they want to see agriculture and they want to get out there. How can we help coordinate all of that for the business community so that when they're bringing people in and they're bringing clients or have meetings or they're doing kind of retreats, we can help them coordinate how they can get their staff here as well.

Jeff Holden: And we want you to savor Sacramento when you're here, not just pass through it. 

Tiffani Scott: Correct. 

Jeff Holden: Which, which so many times we'll hear about. All right. Fun question for you. And I know you're going to love this one because I can, I mean, your wheels are turning all the time anyhow. Budget no option. You do whatever you want.

What would the agency look like if it wasn't [00:41:00] constrained by budget limitations? 

Tiffani Scott: That's a really good question. I think it'd be an acceleration of some of the programs we already have. There's some things in the mobility space we'd like to do. Because while money is no object, the big thing for us is that we want what we do to be purposeful.

So it's not just about delivering to deliver because we have a dollar, it's about what makes the greatest impact, what, what it has the sustaining feature, what is a value add to the region. And so I think the ability, if budget was no option, to be able to dig deeper into our projects, because since we are grant funded, we can We can only deliver things to the extent that we have funds.

So like our partnership programs, I would love to be able to acquire more vehicles and bring on more partners. There's a lot of really small nonprofits who struggle to compete in the space that we have the resources as a larger agency to be able to. Compete for those bigger grants, and we can do the administration of them because we have the financial resources for it.

So for me, having access to those funds is not just about what we [00:42:00] can do, but how could we partner more to be able to help bring on additional partners who are really struggling in this space to compete and be able to cast a wider net. The other program I'd really like to bring back, and then we'll be working with the airport is we had a vehicle rental program where you could actually Rent a vehicle from us that was a fully equipped vehicle and you could drive your loved one.

So we'd have families who say, I want to take my grandchild to Disneyland, but they're in a wheelchair. We can actually rent you a wheelchair equipped vehicle. We've done it on small scale. It's very cost prohibitive in the insurance market right now. And so having additional resources there, that's a program that we're retooling and we're kind of re imagining and it will be coming back in a partnership, but that's a place that I would love to be able to expand out, which is increasing individual.

mobility so that people can bring in their loved ones for a wedding, for a party, for graduation, pick them up at the airport and do that. And our ultimate goal is to make that so you can actually rent a vehicle at the airport that's accessible. That's a paratransit vehicle. 

Jeff Holden: I see the programs you've got.

[00:43:00] into multi states where fee for service for you. Again, Sacramento, the exemplary model, manageable city, we can show you how to scale. It's certainly a city smaller, but bigger. I mean, I'm, I'm as excited for some of the stuff that you're doing as you are. 

Tiffani Scott: Well, and I think that's, it goes to the idea of kind of what I had said, which is we don't want to just create things to create them.

It's really about creating programs of quality and Whether that's for another nonprofit, but we went into New York City and worked with New York City MTA, the largest trans city in the country, as a partner with VIA, which is a rideshare program. They had to travel, or they had to train their cabbies they were hiring to deal with persons with disabilities.

So they actually hired us to come in and provide all the training to the cabbies to do that because of the experience and expertise we have in this space. And so that's part of what. I pride in our agency really prides itself in is the fact that we don't just deliver service. We want to deliver it to a quality, quality, and in a quantity [00:44:00] that can be consumable by others and that people look to admire.

And so we've done a lot of training. We've helped start up services all over the country, both in the travel space, but in the operation space and come in as kind of technical experts where we're not going to run the program, but we're going to help them, teach them how to do it the paratransit way. And when people look.

at us that way and want us to help. I think it means it's the greatest reflection of what we're doing, which means we're doing something that's worth replicating. 

Jeff Holden: Totally agreed. So we now look at the reality of the budget. What is the greatest need you've got? 

Tiffani Scott: For us, it continues, you know, it's always, it's looking at sustainability.

We are not a fundraising agency, so it's looking at that, but it's, it's really about that voice for the need in the region. And I think We really try and work closely with our federal partners to realize that it's not only about mainline traditional transit, that the programs and services we provide to the clients we provide to our partners to nonprofits matter.

And I think the pandemic [00:45:00] helped a lot in that space because I think prior to the pandemic, people knew that nonprofits did great work, but we were kind of hidden. And I think that the pandemic really showed that when things were really rough, it was Um, and we're standing up the food products or programs, and we're standing up the access programs.

They had the skills that even government lacked to be able to do this, to get in. You know, we're really close to the end user. When you look at CBOs, community based organizations, It's not just about deploying services. It's about how do we get into homes? How do we get to those who are the hardest to serve?

And so I think for us going forward, it's continuing to strengthen the partnerships we have with nonprofits, but also the voice that that didn't end with the pandemic. I think all the nonprofits are there. I know the food banks are seeing demand continuing to grow even past pandemic. In some 

Jeff Holden: cases, double.

Tiffani Scott: You're seeing post 

Jeff Holden: pandemic, 

Tiffani Scott: correct. You're seeing the, you know, the need for employment for disabilities. So like pride that didn't all go [00:46:00] away. I think it's shown a light that if anything raised expectations that we don't let it go back to how it was before. And so just like our other agencies, it's about continuing to show that that need.

And that these programs that were stand up the things like people to produce and home to health care were gaps that have been there and solutions need to be not only short term, but that they need to become sustained ways we operate going forward. 

Jeff Holden: What is the best way to get in touch with you and or the organization?

And is it different if I'm? a, an individual or an organization. 

Tiffani Scott: So you can always start with our website, www. paratransit. org or call us. We're at 9 Or send an email. We do have social media. It's really easy to find. We're paratransit Inc on all of our social platforms. So if you put that in, it'll be in show notes 

Jeff Holden: too.

So if they're listening to the episode, just go to the show notes. They can see everything. 

Tiffani Scott: Correct. But we do provide one on one services. So if you're a client looking or [00:47:00] you're. The general public and you're looking for services or training call and we'll get you connected to one of our staff who does that.

If you're an agency looking to partner or looking for solutions, you can reach out and you may talk to me or one of, depending on what your need is, we may give you a call back from our maintenance department or operations department. We really pride ourselves. I think if you ask our partners, our staff is exemplary and people love working with us.

So if you're out there and you have a challenge and when you think we have a solution that can help you reach out, we've even worked closely with other agencies with, we're not scared to try new things. So pose your problem. And if we can come up with a solution and we will help you, or if we have a partner who I think is a partner who can help you solve a solution, I'd love to make a connection.

Best way on this is that actually the American Cancer Society's big initiative going forward is about healthy food for cancer patients and I'll be meeting with them tomorrow about how the work we're doing can actually help benefit the Cancer Society. So there's always a new initiative out there or connections to be made.[00:48:00] 

So please reach out. 

Jeff Holden: And who would have thunk, you know, the, the connections, anything you think about food. But if you can connect people to food because they can now get to it, what a benefit. Absolutely. The American Cancer Society, another great example, and I'm sure there's my American Diabetes Association.

You know, if I can get them away from what they're eating today in a food desert into a better situation where they're eating produce and fresh fruit and good food, we change that dynamic so much. 

Tiffani Scott: Absolutely. 

Jeff Holden: Boy, Tiffany, what an incredible steward you are of an organization that is. It's just blossoming and it's so exciting to think it's in Sacramento and that you're at the head of it and you've got this incredible team of a hundred people who are so committed to the cause and passionate about it and the, the collective nature of what you're doing, the interactive nature of what you're doing in so many different ways.

Again, I, I smile because who else [00:49:00] has all these touch points throughout the community? Well, you need to get from point A to point B in Sacramento. There's. No other way around it. And there's all these different ways to do it. And you're providing the solution, whether it be literally the solution through a vehicle that's yours or serviced by you, if not there, then it's by a tech solution where people can find and identify it.

So thank you so much for what you and your team do. I know it's a. It's a ton of work and you're doing it with such a small group of people and just blown away. And we tell you, I asked you some questions earlier. It's like, well, who's doing that in terms of that? Oh, that's us. Well, how about the it? No, that's our team.

We've got a good team. Well, how about this? No, that's us. We're taking care of that. So congratulations to you. Thank you to you for what you're doing in providing so much for Sacramento. 

Tiffani Scott: Well thank you for having us and thank you to all the partners and those who are out there who realize that this is important.

And I think when you think about it. I'll kind of leave you with the idea that to me, you know, in a perfect world, it'd be a world where access isn't the problem. And so really we're [00:50:00] an agency who, if we can solve anything, it's how do we create access? Because access is how you get food. Access is for healthcare, access for employment, access for education.

The number one barrier to people living their lives, whether they're able bodied, disabled, elderly, is access and lack, in particular, lack. And so if we can work with others to, move one barrier at a time. That means enhanced access. Then we've done our job. 

Jeff Holden: And from the simplicity of education, just give me the confidence to know I can get on that vehicle and or that bus or that route, whatever it is that I need to do.

I can navigate it myself. What a boost for those individuals in terms of flexibility. You've, beyond even just the simple access, you've changed a dynamic, you know, a, a behavioral trait for them that now allows them to function differently in society for the benefit. 

Tiffani Scott: Absolutely. And I think people forget all too often that I think we get in this world focused on it has to be a big change.

And the reality is if you can make a positive change for one person, you've changed their [00:51:00] life forever. There is no greater result. So the ability to do that day in and day out is what it is, but I encourage everyone to remember, it doesn't have to be changing the entire community to that one person. You changed their life.

Jeff Holden: Well, thank you so much. 

Tiffani Scott: Thank you.

Jeff Holden: Thank you for listening to the nonprofit podcast network. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If what you heard moved you, please reach out to that organization and do what you can to help. If you like and appreciate what we're doing to support local nonprofits, please give us a positive review, subscribe, and share.

If you're a nonprofit with an interest in participating in an episode, you can reach me at jeff at hearmenowstudio. com. If you have a need for the services or products our sponsors offer, please reach out to them. CAP Trust, fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations. Runyon Saltzman Incorporated, [00:52:00] RSC, marketing, advertising, and public relations creating integrated communications committed to improving lives, and Western Health Advantage, a full service health care plan for individuals, employer groups, and families.

The non profit podcast network is a production of, is recorded at, and edited by Hear Me Now Studio.