Giving homeless veterans a leg up
Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Car service companies Uber and Lyft are making showing up for job interviews easier for homeless veterans this year per their recent announcement.
Normally fierce competition, the two car service companies will join forces over the next year to donate thousands of free rides to homeless veterans across the country in partnership with the Homeless Veteran’s Reintegration Program.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are nearly 50,000 homeless veterans in the United States.
While this number is on the decline, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans still ranks job placement and training as a top need among other essential basic needs such as housing, food, health care, substance abuse treatment, and counseling. “As a nation, we have proven that homelessness is a problem we can solve,” said U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Laura Green Zeilinger.
“Communities all across the country are meeting this costly tragedy with urgency and a focus on helping all veterans and their families achieve safe and stable housing.”
Tens of thousands of free rides
Lack of reliable transportation should no longer be such a hurdle thanks to this new partnership. Over the next year Uber and Lyft have committed to donating “tens of thousands” of free rides to homeless veterans.
They will collaborate with five veteran organizations who’s programs and counselors work directly with the veterans in need. The White House Blog commended the two rivals in their partnership stating it “is remarkable to see competitors come together to support our veterans.”
This is in addition to Uber’s UberMILITARY program that launched in September of last year. The program vowed to on-board 50,000 current and past service members and family members in 18 months in order to empower veterans as business owners.
How can you help?
Uber drivers and riders can contribute to the initiative ordering an Uber X this Veteran’s Day. When ordering a ride service simply select the “VET’S DAY” tab in the app, opting to donate $5 towards a veteran’s ride. Once the ride is completed riders will be prompted to text “yes” to verify their donation.
