Call a Ride Southlake

Volunteer drivers provide safe transportation for Southlake seniors and disabled individuals who live in Southlake

About

Mission

Call a Ride of Southlake (CARS) encourages and enables adults to be more independent and active. CARS’ volunteer drivers provide safe and affordable transportation for Southlake seniors and disabled individuals who live in Southlake. The service is offered 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday.

History

The idea for CARS began in 1998 when a group of concerned retirees saw that many of their friends were no longer attending various activities once they stopped driving. These individuals decided to try and combat the isolation felt by their friends by creating a nonprofit to provide transportation for Southlake seniors. In partnership with the City of Southlake, who provided much of the early funding, our 501c3 nonprofit status was granted in November of 1999 and we provided our first official ride in January of 2000.

CARS has operated for more than two decades because of dedicated volunteers who drive for us and who serve as Board members. The City of Southlake has been a staunch supporter of CARS and its efforts to provide safe affordable transportation to its residents. The City of Southlake, along with Tarrant County has provided the bulk of CARS’ operating budget for the past two decades.

Leadership

Erik Phelps – Executive Director/COO and acting Secretary (6/2013 – Present)Erik Phelps
Manages the operation (scheduling and dispatching of rides) and documenting and reporting results for CARS. Represents CARS at external events and functions and is the primary interface with the media. In addition, he supports the Board as its secretary documenting quarterly Board meetings. Mr. Phelps spent more than 20 years in the Telecommunications industry working for GTE and Verizon in both engineering and management capacities, ultimately ending his career as a Director of the Verizon Foundation responsible for an annual budget of $10M.

Ernest (Ernie) Meyer – Chairman/President (12/2018 – Present), Director (12/2013 – 12/2018)Ernest 'Ernie' Meyer
Responsible for CARS’ general direction and oversight(within the scope of the policies and procedures adopted by the Board). Before his current role, he was a Director for 5 years. Mr. Meyer spent 40 years with American Airlines, Inc in the Flight Operations arena working in various departments such as Dispatch, Scheduling and Mainframe IT. Worked on integrating various other airlines into AAL’s systems, and more. Worked as an Airline Consultant with EDS and Sabre Holdings after retirement with AAL.

Eric KarlEric A Karl – Treasurer & Chief Financial Officer (12/2018 to Present)
Mr. Karl’s other volunteer activities include president of a large Homeowners Association and a member of his church’s leadership council. Now retired, he was previously a Chief Financial Officer of public, private equity, international, start up and turnaround companies in a variety of industries, including biotechnology, outsourced probation monitoring and Medicaid transportation. Earlier in his career he completed more than 50 acquisitions as a principal while a senior executive at large, multi-national companies.

Lisa A.Adam – Director/Marketing Executive (01/2005 – Present)Lisa Adam
After several years of being a volunteer driver for Lisa joined the Board and covers multiple aspects of Marketing and the social media page for CARS.  She worked many years in various positions in retail sales and moved to Texas in 1985 where she continued as an Executive Administrative Assistant at Lord & Taylor, Donnelley Information Publishing and EDS.  She proudly raised two Carroll Dragons and went on to assist in the family’s fine-dining restaurant in Arlington.  Lisa and her husband have retired and love to travel.

Patricia G. Brayton – CARS Board Member (01/2018 to Present)
Patti BraytonAfter moving to Southlake in 1991 with her husband and 2 young children Patti continued with her career in the medical field over the course of 16 years and began volunteering for the city in several departments. She has worked with the Fire department, Police Department, CERT and then joined Call A Ride Southlake also. In 2016 Patti was selected Southlake Volunteer of the Year. Patti continues to spend time driving for CARS and participating on our Board of Directors. She also has changed from the medical field of work to being Co-Founder, Owner & Operator of Pickler Universe, 2 of the largest indoor pickleball facilities in the world, located on the grounds of DFW airport and in Carrollton Texas.

Vamsi Alla – CARS CTO (03/2024 to Present)Vamsi Alla
Vamsi Alla, a Technology Executive by profession, is a resident of Southlake since 2017. He is a proud father of a Sophomore Dragon at Carroll ISD. He is married to Ramashesai Besetty, Medical Director at one of the largest hospitals in the metroplex. He likes to give back to the community by volunteering his time and serving on city/school committees including the Finance committee for Southlake Carroll ISD and Building Board of Appeals at the City of Southlake. In addition, he serves on the Board of Dragons Care, Timarron Owners Association etc.

Supporters

  • City of Southlake
  • Tarrant County (Commissioner slot?)
  • Southlake Women’s Club Foundation
  • Frost Bank – Southlake Branch
  • Red Coyote Web Services
  • Office Depot
  • Classic Charities
  • Individuals too numerous to mention

 

Public Corporate Documents and Financials

  • Form 990
  • 501(c)3 Letter
  • Last (3) years of Budgets

Financials and Reporting

  • Form 990
  • Budgets from the SLWC Foundation

Additional Resources