Church Vans Tackling Cleveland's Public Transit Problem

It’s hard to get around without a car in Northeastern Ohio. Decades of neglect by the federal and state governments, which continues to reduce its funding commitment, have resulted in endless cuts to transit service, which result in years of ridership decline.

As the transit death spiral is in play, the state continues to pursue initiatives that encourage sprawl. Cleveland lost 6% of its population since 2010, according to the 2020 Census. The declining tax base and government neglect has stranded low-income people who cannot afford to move elsewhere and need transit the most.

Enter the Cleveland Clergy Coalition and Pastor Aaron Phillips. Phillips’ Sure House Baptist Church had four vans that were only used on Sundays. Realizing that people can’t get to a well-paying job if they don’t have a way to get there, as well as being unable to afford a way to get around without a job, the coalition decided to put their vans to use, to connect Clevelanders with better-paying jobs in the suburbs.

The initiative, called Get2Work Now, was kickstarted in 2019 with a $100,000 grant from the Fund for Our Economic Future’s Paradox Prize. “Too many people were facing this false choice that you either had to own or operate, maintain, what is a really expensive individual car for each family in order to get to work,” says Bethia Burke, president of the Fund. In Cuyahoga County, the prize also funded free transit passes for hospital workers and those finding and keeping work, as well as electric carshare for job seekers.

The church vans have connected 100 workers, who are mostly Black and live in Cleveland’s mid-to-south side, to well-paying manufacturing jobs in the suburbs.