The city of South Bend is bringing back a program to help clients of nonprofits get around town.
Transportation has never been easy for people of limited means, but it’s been especially tough, in a car-dependent city like South Bend, since new and used car prices skyrocketed in the pandemic.
In 2019, right before the pandemic, the city won a Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to pilot Commuters Trust, in which the city’s major employers and the grant share costs to help people get to work with Uber, Lyft or Transpo buses.
The program was well-received. In 2021, rather than helping only workers, the city also wanted to help the clients of area nonprofits with their transportation needs. It won a $100,000 grant from the United Way of St. Joseph County, giving 46,000 rides to 225 clients of 14 nonprofits.
That grant money ran out at the end of last year, so now the city has earmarked $70,000 in city money to restart the program for clients of 10 area nonprofits. Clients will receive eight free Uber rides and an unlimited Transpo bus pass each month.
"Being able to provide these fully subsidized transportation options to the clients of our local nonprofits will hopefully improve our clients' and residents' access to resources, whether that be medical or trips to grocery stores, education or employment," said Madi Rogers, the city's civic innovation director.
The city will host an information webinarfor interested nonprofits on April 10.
