Paradox Prize grants available to groups helping workers without cars get to their jobs

CLEVELAND, Ohio – It’s called the “transportation paradox” and it goes like this.

“No car, no job; no job, no car.”

Acknowledging that a dependable ride to work is a stumbling block to permanent employment, several local organizations are offering the “Paradox Prize” as a solution to the transportation dilemma, according to the Fund for Our Economic Future newsletter.

The fund, in cooperation with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, the Lozick Family Foundation, Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Cleveland Foundation, DriveOhio and the Cuyahoga County government, are providing $1 million worth of cash awards to organizations seeking ways to help workers get to their jobs.

The sponsors have already awarded $366,000 and are taking applications for the third round of winners. The deadline for submission is Jan. 15, 2020.

The Fund for Our Economic Future, founded in 2004, is a collaboration of funding groups committed to economic development. It lists the following recipients as having already received Paradox Prize awards.

• Manufacturing Works, which is collaborating with the Cleveland Clergy Association and the American Association of Clergy and Employers, was granted $100,000 to use church vans to deliver workers from “church-based hubs” to job sites in the suburbs.
• Akron Metro RTA was granted $75,000 to work with ConxusNEO on a home-to-workplace service in Summit County called FlexRide.
• A startup company called SHARE, which provides software and other services, has been awarded $16,000 to work with Express Employment Professionals to get workers from East Cleveland, Euclid and the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland to jobs in Lake County.
• Community Action Wayne/Medina will use $100,000 to provide van pools to rural areas not served by public transit.
• Laketran was granted $75,000 to work with the Lake County Board of Commissioners and the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority to test an on-demand transportation service to high-paying employers.

Those seeking more information can go to paradoxprize.com. They can also stop by the Fund for Our Economic Future during an open house today from 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to meet with staff. The address is 4415 Euclid Ave., Suite 203, Cleveland. Or they can set up a future by sending an email to paradoxprize@thefundneo.org.

Read original article here.

Krouse, Peter. (2019, Oct 14). Paradox Prize grants available to groups helping workers without cars get to their jobs.  Cleveland.com.  Retrieved from https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/10/paradox-prize-grants-available-to-groups-helping-workers-without-cars-get-to-their-jobs.html