only center in Florida.<\/a> It is in St. Petersburg. Since launching the effort, more than 300 rides have been provided to CASA Pinellas clients.\u00a0<\/p>\nUber, CASA Pinellas and community leaders came together Monday to officially announce the program\u2019s expansion to Florida. By the end of the year, Hope Rides will be implemented in 30 states.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s about being a part of the solution,\u201d Uber director of public policy for safety and accessibility Meghan Casserly said at the event. \u201cThere\u2019s bus passes, cooperation with law enforcement and a number of ways to solve that transportation need. But, we know that we have a vast network of drivers who are available on demand. So, playing our part is what we are trying to achieve here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ride credits are distributed to Family Justice Centers, she added, and staff members use a centralized dashboard to request rides for individuals. They do not need the Uber app.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. representative Kathy Castor, who serves Tampa and St. Petersburg citizens, explained that there are a \u201clot of stressors\u201d impacting local families. Consequently, it is becoming more difficult to make ends meet. This can lead to anger and sometimes violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so heartening to know that we are a caring community,\u201d she said. \u201cWe provide for each other and will not let anyone fall through the cracks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Castor added that it takes a \u201cgreater foundation\u201d to support survivors and give them the \u201cconfidence\u201d they need to seek assistance. The partnership with Uber is a reflection of this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTransportation may seem like a simple thing to many of us, but for survivors, it can be one of the greatest barriers to getting help,\u201d said St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch at the Monday event. \u201cWhat we are seeing today is what happens when local leadership, national partners and innovative thinking come together for a shared purpose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
CASA Pinellas board vice chair Marcus Wilson has seen the impacts of domestic violence firsthand. His mom survived abuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe immediately had to deal with the logistics of managing bus schedules and having to get to court dates,\u201d Wilson explained. \u201cIt was a nightmare and she also had to face high expenses to order a taxi at the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
CASA Pinellas CEO Lariana Forsythe added that \u201cevery survivor\u2019s journey is very different.\u201d While their needs often vary, transportation is a key common denominator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To exemplify, she told a story about a person who chose not to go to a courthouse because the facility\u2019s parking garage was underground. The individual was \u201cterrified\u201d that their abuser was going to make an unwelcome appearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis rideshare partnership meets survivors exactly where they are literally,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cYou can order a ride in autonomy, and autonomy is everything to a survivor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
CASA Pinellas website\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Domestic violence survivors often refuse to seek help because of transportation challenges. Uber Technologies leaders are trying to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-231420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}