A Needed Lyft
A Needed Lyft
The ride share company is offer $2.50 trips for some Philly residents in food deserts to help with a major hurdle to healthy eating: getting to grocery stores
Aug. 13, 2019
It's x a.m. on a summertime Thursday, and from the dominicus-drenched atrium inside Nellie Reynolds Gardens , a cheery Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) belongings for seniors in North Philly, Albert Dukes is grinning.
A born-and-raised Philadelphian, Dukes says he has skilful reason to be happy: Lyft has but announced that, in September, it will launch a pilot program offering 8 shared rides per month to residents of ten PHA properties, including his, for merely $2.fifty each way, as part of its Grocery Access Program . The initiative, which launched offset in Washington, D.C. in 2022 and is already in place in ix other U.S. cities, is coming to Philly as a partnership between Lyft, PHA, and Uplift Solutions , the nonprofit that since 2009 has focused on creating increased access to good for you food and workforce development in underserved communities.
For Dukes, the program has the potential to be transformative.
"We recognize that food deserts are a major problem in Philadelphia and other cities and we want to reduce the barrier that is transportation," he says. "Nosotros recall this is the right thing to do in Philadelphia to assistance people get fresh and healthy groceries."
"Commencement of all, nosotros're seniors and mobility is a problem. Getting around in the neighborhood is a problem. And so nosotros capeesh all the help we can get," he says. "But the biggest problem is that we're on a fixed income. And sometimes we have to choose between food or paying for our medications." He says that the heaven-loftier prices of the taxis at the markets he visits are prohibitive. "They accuse an arm and a leg, and we really can't afford that."
Dukes is not alone. Food transportation barriers touch on approximately 23.five million people in the U.S. Cities have considered various interventions; this summer, D.C. , for instance, rolled out a program offer free taxi rides to grocery stores for residents of certain neighborhoods, through the end of September. And equally countless studies have shown, access to grocery stores increases residents' likelihood of consuming fresh, not processed, food.
"We're happy that people tin can go back to a healthier lifestyle; information technology will bring downward our cost of healthcare, it will increment longevity, and near chiefly it volition increase the quality of life for people," says Pennsylvania Land Senator Sharif Street, whose district includes the backdrop zoned for the program.
The Grocery Admission Program volition shuttle residents to one of two participating grocery stores: Fresh Grocer at 1501 N. Wide Street, and Shoprite at 2800 Fob Street. The latter is one of x Shoprite stores owned by Jeff Brown, who serves on Uplift'south board and is all-time known in Philly for his opposition to Mayor Kenney's soda revenue enhancement on the grounds that it is bad for the grocery business. Equally part of his mission, Chocolate-brown is committed to nurturing the communities around his stores—keeping prices down then they are relatively affordable, building community rooms within stores for local organizations to hold meetings, providing employment opportunities for those with criminal records who often get overlooked.
Do-practiced work may be particularly on-tendency in 2019, merely Lyft's leadership is putting musculus and money behind their mission: As an August 7th Forbes article detailed, since its IPO in March, Lyft has launched Lyft City Works to "make cities more than livable," funding it with either one percent of profits or $50 million annually, whichever sum is greater.
Skeptics might betoken to the challenges inherent in such a partnership: One obstacle to success could be the extent to which seniors, in particular, even have or utilise smartphones. PHA insists, nevertheless, that on-site staff will do whatever they can to support the tech needs of residents.
"There are going to be some technology challenges, that is a bulwark for our community. But we have to starting time somewhere," says Nichole Tillman of PHA's press department.
Andrew Woolf, Lyft Regional Director of Pennsylvania, New Bailiwick of jersey, and Delaware, is hopeful that the six-month pilot volition exist a success, and tin can aggrandize beyond its initial run.
"We recognize that food deserts are a major problem in Philadelphia and other cities and we want to reduce the barrier that is transportation," he says. "We recall this is the right thing to do in Philadelphia to help people get fresh and salubrious groceries." Do-good work may exist peculiarly on-trend in 2019, but Lyft's leadership is putting muscle and coin behind their mission: Every bit an August 7th Forbes article detailed, since its IPO in March, Lyft has launched Lyft Urban center Works to "make cities more livable," funding information technology with either i percentage of profits or $fifty million annually, whichever sum is greater.
Dukes, the North Philly resident is optimistic. "I'm so glad [nearly] Lyft and Uplift Solutions. Now I can take extra dollars to spend in the store," he adds.
photo by Daniel Incandela via Flickr 
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Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/a-needed-lyft/
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