Driven with Heart
R&A Transport Shares their love of transporting Epworth families
By Kerry Hoffschneider
YORK-Donna Baker always commented to Justin how beautiful the lilac flowers were at Epworth Village’s Kruse Group Home in Grand Island. “Then one morning when I came to get him he was picking me a bouquet. That made my day.”
Baker is one of 14 drivers employed by R & A Transport, LLC, a transportation company driven by far more than fully-aired up tires and full gas tanks. No, this company is fueled primarily by beating hearts that care deeply for children and families.
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One of the precious Epworth boys with driver Eldene Mason. The relationships and bonds formed to and from Epworth with R & A drivers is an important component to the program’s success. |
The R & A story began back in 1999 as Eichman Transportation. Epworth Village, a family-centered treatment agency based in York and Grand Island had a need; just one child at that time did not have transportation to and from the day treatment program. Adell Eichman was serving as the Administrative Secretary at Epworth and her husband Ray was retired from the construction business. Ray, always looking for the next opportunity, decided he could transport the child.
“Both my parents were so very passionate about the work we do at Epworth,” said their daughter Kristi Weber, who has been working for the agency for more than 20 years and currently serves as vice president of programs for the 120-year-old treatment facility. “They wanted to ensure that transports were always safe and always timely. They took a lot of pride in the business from the get-go.”
Being sound entrepreneurs, the Eichmans did not stop with one vehicle. They went through the process to be an official transportation company. Today, the fleet of 14 drivers and 16 vehicles can travel anywhere in the state of Nebraska and in the continental United States as they have both an in and out-of-state transportation agreement. After Ray’s death in 2003, the name changed to R & A Transport, LLC. Currently, their travels take them all over Nebraska, everywhere from Scotts Bluff to Omaha.
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R & A driver Chris Tonniges visits with fellow drivers Jean and Neil Priefert. The transportation company employs 14 drivers total, transporting nearly 80 family members a week. |
Their cargo is precious; each week the drivers, mostly of retirement age, transport an average of 75 family members for therapy appointments and school. Epworth’s overall program includes residential treatment, family-centered therapeutic services, the Epworth Village Learning Center, In-Home Safety Services Program and foster care. Each month, the agency is serving more than 1,200 people across Nebraska.
The group of caring R & A employees is far more than transportation specialists; in fact, they are considered a core asset to Epworth’s continuum of care. There is a lot of learning and communicating that goes on during the trips to and from home to Epworth’s treatment. There are many touching moments too, such as lilac bouquets and a host of other exchanges between the drivers, children and their families.
“They are all what I like to call ‘grandparent’ type people. They treat the children like their own grandchildren,” Weber said. “That type of treatment really helps the children. They are good examples, they don’t smoke or curse. It is a professional transportation company. My mom has a state inspection of the vans annually and she is routinely told that her company has the best maintained and cleanest vans in the industry.”
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One of the many mementos drivers have collected from their passengers. In this case, a message of safety, “Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.” Many of these drivers are truly considered angels to both the Epworth program and to those hearts they transport across Nebraska. |
Yet, it is the daily exchange of wisdom between driver and families that matters the most.
“I was a little apprehensive one morning because I was going to transport a young boy I had been told could be a real discipline problem,” Eldene Mason said. “But, we hit it off great from the start and talked about a lot of things. We were almost to school when he handed me the little chalk board he had been playing with. It said, ‘I really like you.’ That made my day.”
“I remember transporting a great grandmother to Epworth for her first visit to see her great grandson,” recalled Ed Prince. “She shared with me about his behaviors and how she had raised him all his life. If they went shopping and he wanted something and didn’t get it, he would hit her and push her down. She just could not handle this anymore. She got help by admitting him to Epworth Village. I told her I would bet her a nickel that maybe not that visit, but by the second visit she would notice a change in his attitude and behaviors. She said, ‘okay, the bet is on.’ After the visit was over that day she wanted to pay me because she could already tell a difference in him. I wouldn’t accept the nickel and told her that I had seen hundreds of kids improve after each visit and continue to improve until discharged.”
“There is great camaraderie between the young men and the drivers,” said Chris Tonniges. “It’s like a big family.”
 Adell and the late Ray Eichman. R & A Transport, LLC was started by the Eichmans in 1999. |
R & A indeed operates like a family in the way they celebrate successes and mourn tragedy. That was the case when Tonniges heard the news about Steve Gay, a former Epworth client who was killed in a car accident after swerving to avoid an older driver and rolling his car. “It broke my heart,” she said. To this day, Tonniges has mementos made by Steve hanging from her rearview mirror. She also has gifts from many of her other passengers, as do other drivers. “They become like your own,” she said with a broad, deep smile.
“Epworth helps the boys and families learn how to get along. It is so much better when families can learn how to help themselves instead of getting the courts involved. Epworth is one of the few places that can help boys learn better behaviors,” said Don Mason.
Prince said, “We as citizens of York and Nebraska need to tell every person we visit with how good Epworth is for the kids. These children come here from all walks of life. Some of them don’t have anywhere else to go. They may have been in foster homes or many group homes. Some of them don’t even know where their parents are. Most of them only have one parent. For many, Epworth is their last hope and 90 to 95 percent of them leave here as a better person with a better future and chance at becoming a good, upstanding adult. God bless all the children, their families and everyone associated with Epworth Village.”