After a difficult 2015, nonprofit’s new president focused on the future
Published October 29, 2015
by Tad Johnson
Sun Thisweek-Dakota County Tribune
Ann Bailey
The new DARTS president hadn’t heard of the 41-year-old Dakota County nonprofit until 2003 when she was in need of one of its services.
Ann Bailey, of Apple Valley, who was providing care for her aging father at home, was in need of a break.
That’s when she heard about DARTS’ respite care.
“DARTS not only helped me become better educated about caregiving, but helped me focus on my own welfare so I could provide better care for my father,” Bailey said.
The help she received from DARTS made such an impression on Bailey that a few years later she volunteered to serve on its board of directors.
After five years of service on the board, Bailey was selected in June as the nonprofit’s president after Greg Konat resigned earlier this year.
Bailey, who was a technical leader at Target for 18 years, says 2015 has been struggle as DARTS lost its estimated $5 million in annual contracts with the Met Council after several violations were found in its transportation services division, and the situation resulted in a defamation lawsuit against DARTS.
The new president said she can’t talk about details of the lawsuit because it’s awaiting litigation, but she said the organization has a balanced budget for 2016 as it is out to remake its services in the coming years.
“2015 has been a struggle,” Bailey said. “We’ve had to pay unemployment for some workers. We are sitting on office space that isn’t being utilized. … We spent so much time on crisis management in 2015.”
After making hard decisions to pare its budget and using its endowment to cover a 2015 budget hole, Bailey said there is still a vital need for DARTS in the community.
Bailey said board members, employees and volunteers are invested in helping build and shape the organization for a good long-term position.
That starts with remaking DARTS transportation services, which gained a new focus in 2015.
“We were so focused on transportation before, now we can provide transportation under our own brand,” Bailey said of DARTS, which previously had 66 percent of its expenditures tied to transportation, which provided revenue to support other services.
The transfer of the Met Council Metro Mobility and Transit Link contract meant DARTS had to determine a new transportation place in the community.
She said transportation is the one thing that people remember DARTS most for and it’s the reason DARTS decided to continue with a bus service after losing the Met Council contract.
“That is the roots of where our expertise is,” she said.
After meeting with Met Council and area leaders and reviewing its options, DARTS has developed the Loop Transportation concept, which started a few months ago in West St. Paul.
DARTS buses run in a 30-minute circuit primarily along Robert Street stopping at places like the grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants and other entertainment options.
“The demand is there,” Bailey said.
Another loop being piloted this fall is the Burnsville Medical Loop, which is 30-minute circuit that stops at area senior housing sites, medical clinics and pharmacies.
While it made changes in ride service, DARTS dropped its vehicle maintenance services and cut some administrative positions in an effort to save money and refocus.
“(Vehicle maintenance) wasn’t a core competency for us,” Bailey said.
While the budget reductions were made, Bailey said DARTS officials didn’t want to cut off the organization’s arms and legs.
“We want to make cuts wisely,” she said.
She said DARTS wants to be a small piece of the transportation puzzle.
Ridership will be the key to the success of the loop service, which costs $3 to ride but $70 to provide the trip.
Bailey said the goal is to have two DARTS transportation loops in each of the cities in Dakota County.
The nonprofit is also providing its DARTS Direct service, which provides transportation for group outings.
She said DARTS is considering an Uber cab model for seniors, but that it’s only in a discussion stage.
Other services
With more than 25 percent of Dakota County’s population to be age 65 or older by 2035, Bailey says DARTS has services that need to be used.
She said DARTS reaches only about 1 percent of the county’s population (about 3,000 people) and she’d like to see that percentage pushed to 5 or 10 percent.
The ability of DARTS to reach more people largely will depend on its ability to market its services.
One of the struggles is that potential users and clients often have to make the first move. Seeking help doesn’t seem to be in the human DNA, according to Bailey.
“That is the guilt we all put on ourselves,” she said. “We want people to let (DARTS to) do the chores and the work.”
The “work” Bailey is talking about is the suite of services that includes caregiver support; home cleaning, repair, modification and chores; and errands.
DARTS offers caregiving counseling, coaching, support groups and seminars, in addition to in-home respite for up to four hours a week.
Bailey knows from her own experience that caregivers “will thrive more when we can help,” she said.
“It’s hard to get people to sign up for respite care,” she said.
DARTS has a professional staff and an army of more than 1,000 volunteers who help provide these services.
Using its paid staff, DARTS offers market-rate cleaning, repair and home modification services, the latter of which was added most recently and can result in a wheelchair ramp and safety railings being installed on a sliding-fee scale.
Volunteers help with such chores as leaf removal or grocery shopping.
Bailey said when she interacts with community members at expos, a common reaction is, “I didn’t know you did all of that.”
But that isn’t all.
DARTS encourages seniors to engage with the community through its Learning Buddies program.
The program pairs older adults with elementary students in area schools who could benefit from a mentor. More than 3,100 children have Learning Buddies who help with one-on-one reading, math and science.
“We keep seniors engaged,” she said. “They should be celebrated.”
More is at dartsconnects.org.
Tad Johnson is at tad.johnson@ecm-inc.com. Follow him on Twitter @editorTJ.
Tad Johnson 