I-way Blog

by John Murray, District 2 Mobility Manager Read more...

Written by Brooke Green, with Monique Johns, Idaho State Independent Living Council Read more...

You are a single mother of two without a vehicle, out of work and unemployment benefits are running out. You have been offered a night job as the weekend auditor for a local hotel. The downside – the shift begins at 11:00pm and ends at 6:00am. The problem – affordable and safe child care is limited and there isn’t any public transit offered for late night and weekend workers. Will you accept the position…can you accept the position?

This is not a fictional scenario, this is the dilemma faced by a young mother within my district. We need to look at these two issues, child care and mobility as they relate to shift and weekend labor pools. Nationwide we find in rural areas that bartering and cooperation between neighbors and families can fill a portion of the gap in transit and child care availability. But, shift work often limits the willingness of families and others to provide rides or babysitting services.

Are these limitations keeping our unemployed or underemployed from seeking shift and weekend positions? As a mobility manager this discussion provided insight to the issues faced by our human service agencies – how do you help clients learn positive ways to meet their own needs on their journey to self-sufficiency with such overwhelming gaps in service.

Possible solutions:

• Visit I-Way.org and click on the Getting Around icon for RideShare information. The RideShare is a free, online resource to individuals find the perfect carpool or vanpool; RideShare also has matching tools such as Bike Buddies and School Pools for the kids.
• Work with employers that require shift and weekend workers to develop options such as van and car pools;
• Seek sponsorships for evening and weekend transit routes designed to serve the needs of major employers and their workers.

Our economic climate has created challenges for those seeking employment and mobility options can remove at least one of those challenge.  Read more...