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Michelle & Tom Dacy | President & Vice President | Special Needs Chicago
Tell us a little bit about Special Needs Chicago
Special Needs Chicago provides individuals with physical and / or cognitive challenges the freedom to enjoy safe, reliable, comfortable, and courteous transportation throughout Chicago and its suburbs. We offer non-emergency transit for seniors and people with disabilities in wheelchair-accessible vehicles — ADA minivans, full-size vans and minibuses — 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with long distance and out-of-state transports upon request. Our drivers are all independent contractors, and the majority of them are career professionals who have been working with us for over 20 years. We are highly specialized, making us a great ally for NEMT-related affiliate work. We are also in the midst of opening 3 franchise locations: one each in Ann Arbor / Detroit, Arlington / DFW, and Denver. The franchise outposts will operate as Tootl Transport (since the original name doesn’t really work outside of Chicago) and will allow us to not only bring our outstanding service to communities who will benefit in these cities, but we can now also offer even more cooperate support for our fellow operators in those areas.
How did you, personally, end up in the transportation industry?
After over a decade of coordinating wheelchair accessible transportation for a variety of different clients, I couldn’t ignore the customer care discrepancies in the industry any longer. I became adamant about the need to provide better service and commit to higher standards, so I launched Special Needs Chicago in 2012. My husband Tom has a background in hospitality, and joined me for the venture. We’ve grown our vision and our company together ever since.
What has been your experience as an ILLBA member?
The ILLBA is a phenomenal organization, with great networking opportunities that have really helped us grow an active network of collaborative relationships with fellow operator members who farm out to us for their NEMT transportation needs. The learning and camaraderie that is available through the ILLBA’s various events and educational opportunities has also always been important to us — everyone should attend the in-person events whenever they can. We certainly try to.
Any predictions, hopes, or ambitions for the future of our industry?
I’ve been watching the growth of transportation-related AI, and feeling grateful to be operating in a niche that will always remain very human-oriented. Door-through-door wheelchair rides, a professional driver who is versed in properly securing and transporting people with physical and mental challenges — these are not things that will work with a robot or a driverless car. Would you send your parent with dementia, or your child who uses a wheelchair, in a vehicle that has no trained chaperone? The person-to-person service element that is inherent to what we do is a huge part of what makes it special. It’s what I’m passionate about, and it feels good to believe that this is something we can continue offering well into the future.
You can reach Michelle at michelle@specialneedschicago.org or +1 630 668 9999. Read Michelle and Tom’s full interview on our website.
Calling all members and vendors / suppliers! Want to be featured in an upcoming Spotlight Series? Contact Paula at the ILLBA office.
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