Introduction
Sun City is a quiet town just outside of central Phoenix where over 90% of the population is over the age of 50. Many of Sun City’s residents cannot drive, should not drive or simply do not want to drive themselves.
Grace Bible Church is an inclusive, welcoming and caring community in the heart of Sun City. Since 1978, the church has always taken excellent care of its congregation, consistently enriching their lives with its wonderful staff and memorable services.
Church and Members Needs
For years, Grace Bible Church’s members have consistently experienced one major problem that prevented them from attending services: they simply had no reliable or convenient way to get to and back from church.
The church spent years trying to help solve the problem by calling on cab services to transport their members to and from church. However, the cabs were too often unreliable and inconsistent, sometimes arriving too late or not at all. The members grew weary and frustrated with the cabs, and many stopped coming to services altogether because securing transportation was simply too stressful.
“It just became a nightmare of emotions, time and money,” said Stan Hughes, Grace Bible Church’s Pastor of Administration. “The stress of transportation discouraged members from coming to not only Sunday morning services, but also other various fellowship activities the church hosts throughout the week”, added Pastor Hughes.
Solution
Grace Bible Church found out about Envoy America through an article in the Jewish News newspaper that detailed the services the company has been providing for various synagogues in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Excited at the prospect of a solution, the church staff quickly reached out to Envoy America and immediately began discussing how the company’s unique and valued combination of transportation, companionship and assistance services for seniors could solve their challenges.
The company was built from the ground up to meet the specific unique needs of older adults and their families. It offers a unique set of attributes that include Door-to-Door service (as compared to curb-to-curb service), clients can make their reservations in advance, the driver companions wait for the clients to return them home after their appointment, they
can make multiple stops and the driver companions are trained and certified to provide extra assistance and companionship throughout the trip.
Finally, the service is affordable – Envoy America is 20% – 30% less expensive most of the time, compared to a taxi or Uber, but the company provides more and significantly better service 100% of the time.
Benefits
After dealing with the hassle of the cab services for so long, Pastor Hughes expressed deep gratitude for Envoy America’s commitment to ensuring a smooth journey from long before the pick-up to long after the drop-off.
Extra Assistance
The church members who have been utilizing the services are especially relieved that the driver companions provide caring companionship and assist with getting in and out of the vehicle as well as waiting for them to attend the church services and social events.
Safety
The fact that all the Envoy America drivers are certified and hired only after extensive interviewing, background/reference checks and training to interact and work with older adults was a big relief for the church staff.
Easy to Use
Pastor Hughes, Grace Bible Church Pastor of Administration, who has been ordering the service for the church members is especially happy that he can email or call-in advance and make the reservation with either a live person or use the company’s email system. He is also extremely happy that he can request a specific driver. And once a passenger is entered in the company’s system, their information is saved and the church staff can save the time and energy by not having to provide the same information each week.
Warm and Compassionate Service
The Envoy America driver companions are, in general, 50+ years old and provide compassionate care, just like a son or daughter would for their own parents.
Flexible
The service is available 24/7 and up to four clients can share the ride with no additional charge – no pick-up or mileage fee, no surge pricing, and no hidden costs.
Outcome
In January 2017, Grace Bible Church officially began its partnership with Envoy America. Hughes said the members utilizing the service were initially a bit wary to be changing their routine, but the hesitance dissolved within a short time after meeting the company’s driver companions and managers for the first time.
The church staff and the members who have been utilizing the services are especially relieved that the driver companions call the day beforehand to not only confirm the pickup time and place, but introduce themselves and begin building a genuine relationship with their clients.
The staff said the experience with Envoy America has been extremely positive for the church’s older adults, especially those who want to become members, increase involvement or bring friends along to church.
“It’s empowering to people because now instead of being dependent on a somewhat erratic service,
they can be agents who can not only do things and go places they want to go, but bring others along or
provide support to friends,” he said.
Mrs. Landgren, who uses the service to go to church with her husband and plans to invite friends along,
called Envoy America her “first choice” in transportation services. She praised her driver,
Michael Siegel, for being reliable, respectable and going above and beyond to make their experience
seamless. “Not only did he come to our door to pick us up, but he offered us cold water. His car was
extremely clean. He treated us with respect. He is a true gentleman”, added Mrs. Landgren.
“My philosophy in my work is simply ‘do unto others as you’d have done unto you. With our clients, I don’t have to put on a show. When I see these folks, I see family They’re important to me,” Siegel added.
Hania Kanaan, Envoy America’s Senior Vice President, Client Care and Administration, echoed Siegel’s sentiments. He said he loves being able to connect with our clients on a personal level and hear stories of their family and where they come from.
“When I first started out here, people would tell me, ‘Oh, you guys are an Uber for Seniors,’” Kanaan said. “And I’d say, no we’re not – Uber is a transportation company; we provide transportation coupled with companionship and assistance services. We do what a son or daughter would do for their mom or dad.”
Envoy America’s clients see them as family, and the company views their clients the exact same way. This is part of the reason why the 8-years partnership between Grace Bible Church and Envoy America has been so successful – both organizations are community-driven organizations committing to fostering a family-like atmosphere in everything they do.
