Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Celebrating their WYTRANS 2020 Agency of the Year honor from the Ten Sleep Senior Center are (l-r): Pam Taylor, driver; Connie Sweeny, driver; Tina Click, assistant director and dispatcher; Cheri Bjornsrud, bookkeeper and activities director; Randy Firnekas, executive director; and Sherry Brewster, driver.
TEN SLEEP - The Ten Sleep Senior Center earned top honors by the Wyoming Public Transit Association recently, named the WYTRANS 2020 Agency of the Year.
According to a report in the WYTRANS newsletter the Ten Sleep Senior Center placed second in the 2019 Performance Measures Contest, Executive Director Randy Firnekas was able to secure outside grant funding including funding from the Ludwick Family Foundation, they awarded us enough extra funding to get a support vehicle.
"Before the middle of September we should be receiving a new 14-passenger all-wheel-drive Ford Transit Van and a new Ford Fusion utilizing their grant award money. We also applied for a grant through the Wyoming Department of Transportation to replace our Americans with Disabilities Act wheelchair accessible van. This is where we will be using the Performance Measures Funding, which will also be an AWD Ford Transit Van. Between both grants we will be receiving three new vehicles," Firnekas said.
According to the newsletter, "Ten Sleep is always ready to answer our call for information when we are preparing materials about our various programs. Randy and his staff consistently meet our deadlines for budget requests and their billing and ridership information is among the first to arrive each month. Requests for reimbursement are reliably supported with appropriate documentation. When Ten Sleep applies for a grant, they always have the match in place.
"Ridership in 2019 increased 27% over the same time period in 2018. In fiscal year 2019, Ten Sleep Seniors reported ridership of 4,020, in a community of 304 residents.
"Ten Sleep made good use of the workshops and informational seminars offered at the last WYTRANS Conference. Ten Sleep earned 12 out of a possible 12 points for attendance at the various offerings. This demonstrates a willingness to learn more about the latest developments in the transit world, and provides Randy with useful information he can bring back to Ten Sleep to incorporate into his transit program.
"Ten Sleep consistently participates in the monthly Dashboard quizzes. In the 2019, WYTRANS Board of Directors election, [Firnekas] was elected to an at-large director's seat. Ten Sleep is a perfect example of a small provider who is doing everything right."
