When a Lyft ride to work can change a life

Ogaro Coombs, a 37-year-old in New Jersey who likes to play sports and spend time with his family, is working to build a new future for himself. His goal: a new job in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. "They can't take a trade from you," he says. "I want to build a career and open a business if I want to."

He's doing it with help from the New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC) - a nonprofit organization that helps veterans and people returning from state prison, county jail, and addiction treatment centers with job training and placement (among other services). And it's a serious commitment. For five months, Coombs will leave his house at 6:45 a.m. to catch the bus to the NJRC's intake center in Hackensack and then to a second intake center in Paterson. Then he'll head to the HVAC training center in Kearny. The multistep commute takes two hours each way - four hours a day - and timing is crucial. The day he doubled back after leaving his phone behind, he missed his shot at getting to the van on time.

"In my situation, that'll be it," he says. "I don't have no other means for somebody to help get me where I'm going."

That's where Lyft comes in. Since 2021, Lyft has partnered with NJRC to give free rides to the organization's clients through its Lyft Up initiative, which aims to provide access to transportation to a job or training, the grocery store, the ballot box, or safety after a natural disaster. Lyft provides ride credits for $25 and $40 directly to the NJRC, and staffers request cars for clients who get stuck, need a ride to a doctor's appointment or substance abuse treatment, or need transportation support as they begin their new jobs. Since the program began, Lyft has provided thousands of rides for NJRC clients.

"The reentry program is focused on people who really have few resources available, as many are coming out of incarceration. We wanted to make sure that we could show up to support that demographic," says Eleise Richards, a public policy manager at Lyft. "Especially because this statewide program impacts a lot of people."

Since its founding a decade ago, NJRC has served more than 20,000 people and helped secure more than 10,000 jobs. The reincarceration rate in New Jersey is about 30%, but for program participants, it is just 10%.

Coombs first learned about the NJRC when he was fighting misdemeanor charges. He had been having trouble getting a job - he had other charges in his background, some inconsistencies in his work history, and a significant arm injury from a stabbing - and was worried the misdemeanor would make it even more difficult. His attorney suggested NJRC.

"You feel like you can't get a break or a second chance," says Coombs. "This reentry program is helping so we don't revert back to the old paths. It definitely gives me that hope that if I buckle down and get things going, they're here to help."

NJRC's services also lured HVAC trainee Geremy Pulinario back from Florida, where he'd been on the run from New Jersey police for two years. A friend told him about the program and convinced him that the NJRC could help him start over. "For people like me from the hood, it gives us hope that we can do something with ourselves," he says. "We don't have to sell drugs or do anything illegal."

Of all the challenges the organization's clients face, "securing employment is the hardest, according to Katelyn Baez-Laureano, the employer and partnership coordinator at NJRC. Many of the organization's clients lack the necessary training for the kinds of jobs they want, felony-friendly employers are scarce, and, even though the NJRC provides bus passes and free shuttles, transit can be unreliable. "Buses run late," Baez-Laureano says. "And some jobs don't want to hear any excuses."

For clients like Coombs, who has been able to access Lyft rides twice when the timing of his commute didn't work out, the service has been a lifesaver. His training program allows for only three absences before a participant gets kicked out.

A Lyft ride offers more than just transportation; it's also a reminder that NJRC clients aren't alone in building their new lives. "It's like, dang," says Coombs, "I'm getting help to get there. It's pretty cool."

For Pulinario, who is now back home with his family in New Jersey, it's a reinforcement of the possibilities the NJRC provides.

"Reentry gave me hope for a new future," he says. "And in my past, I never saw a future."

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