Everybody Rides Metro Foundation Receives $1 million to Connect Low-income Workers to Jobs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 19, 2008

EVERYBODY RIDES METRO FOUNDATION RECEIVES
$1 MILLION TO CONNECT LOW-INCOME WORKERS TO JOBS
Federal grant, local funding = rides to work starting this Spring

CINCINNATI - In December 2006, the Everybody Rides Metro foundation received its first public contributions from Mayor Mark Mallory and his father William Mallory Sr. Just over a year later, the foundation is making a million-dollar announcement.

Today the Everybody Rides Metro foundation announced that it has raised $1 million to connect low-income workers to jobs for two years beginning this Spring. The start date has not yet been announced, but is anticipated to be in April.

The funding comes from a two-year $718,350 federal Job Access-Reverse Commute (JARC) grant and more than $200,000 in local foundation funding. Local non-profit organizations are also stepping forward to support the program.

The JARC grant was competitively awarded through OKI Regional Council of Governments. The grant requires dollar-for-dollar local matching funds, which means that the foundation will provide more than $1.4 million in bus fare subsidy to help low-income workers over the next two years or about 1 million job-related rides.

The following contributions will be used to help match the federal grant:

$200,000: The Greater Cincinnati Foundation

The Greater Cincinnati Foundation has stepped forward with $200,000 ($100,000 per year) of the match. Of this amount, $9,000 is from the Frances Ehrlich Wolf Fund in Memory of Alfred Max Stern, a field of interest fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation.

$15,000: The Robert H. Reakirt Foundation, PNC Bank, Trustee

The Robert H. Reakirt Foundation, PNC Bank, Trustee, has awarded $15,000 to serve as match for the grant, specifically to provide work access for low-income individuals.

$250,000+: Non-profit partner organizations

In addition, more than 25 local non-profit organizations have agreed to be partner agencies to distribute tokens to eligible individuals. The partner organizations will purchase tokens that will be matched by the federal JARC funds.

When the program begins, individuals may call United Way's Helpline at 211 to be referred to a partner organization. Eligibility varies by organization, but to qualify for JARC-funded tokens, family income must be at or below 150% of the federal poverty line.

Funding can be used for job-related transportation, including:

Employment
Employment interviews
Day care related to employment
Job-related counseling
Job related education
Medical exams for employment

For more information, please visit www.everybodyridesmetro.org.

"We are so grateful to the funders of this program. Without their support and without our partner organizations, this could not be accomplished," said H. Theodore Bergh, executive director of the Everybody Rides Metro foundation. "I think we all recognize, though, that this isn't about the money. It's about getting people to work. It's about building a solid community through access to employment."

Created by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, Everybody Rides Metro is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that partners with non-profit organizations to provide bus tokens to low-income individuals to support self-sufficiency. It is the first foundation dedicated to providing public transportation to low-income riders in the country. Donations are tax-deductible.