In 2019, Sunshine House provided more than 26,000 rides to Door County residents. If you are out on your way to work at 7:15 am in the morning, you have probably seen one of our buses on the road throughout the county. Rain or shine, snow or sleet, Karen Leitzinger, Director of Transportation for Sunshine House has the fleet warmed up and ready to accommodate those needing a ride.
“One of our duties of assisting our clients to enrich their lives, is to ensure that we are getting them to the Sunshine House safe. We provide rides to and from Sunshine House Monday – Friday, 52 weeks a year. That accounts for more than 120,000 miles a year,” says Karen.
And rides to Sunshine House are not the only transportation provided. We gave more than 8,000 rides to clients needing rides to their community employment, personal care appointments and Sunflower Cottage outings.
“Our focus it to provide safe transportation to our clients as well as those in need of rides throughout the county. We work closely with other organizations in Door County that need dependable transportation,” says Karen. “One of those organizations is United Methodist Church. They use our fleet of buses to transport their elderly members to their weekend service.”
Sunshine House is very excited for 2020 as they prepare to take delivery of 2 new buses and a new van. These will replace existing vehicles that have reached their service life.
“Part of my role is not only to coordinate the daily transportation needs of our clients, but to also ensure that our vehicles are maintained and in running order. Eventually they reach a point that it begins to be too costly to repair and they need to be replaced,” says Karen.
So if you are out in the morning on your travel to work, and you see one of the Sunshine House vehicles on the road, give them a wave and make their day, and expecta wave and smile in return.
About Sunshine House, Inc.
Sunshine House Inc. is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization started by parents in Door County in 1971. The Sunshine House Mission is to achieve full participation in society of people with special needs.
Since its inception, Sunshine House Inc. has been providing services to Door County’s citizens with special needs and disabilities. Each individual who participates in the services offered at Sunshine house Inc. has a unique program designed to meet each individual’s requirements. Circumstances that may have affected an individual include: developmental disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, other neurological disorders and brain trauma.
Direct care services are available to individuals with more intense personal needs and, along with day services, offer opportunities for community outings and a variety of development and recreational experiences as well as prevocational skills opportunities.
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