"Get On The Bus" Program Helps Unemployed Return to Work

Attorney Richard Bernstein and WJR Assistant News Director Lloyd Jackson Participate in Kick Off of Goodwill Industries Program for Workers Who Need Transportation to New Jobs

September 2, 2008

Lloyd Jackson:

Good Morning. I’m Lloyd Jackson, I’m the assistant news director at News Talk 760 WJR, and we are also a big sponsor and backer of the “Get on the Bus” program. I am so happy to see you all here, joining us this morning.

“Get On the Bus” is an effort to help those who have found work in the toughest job market in the country. You can get to and from a job they’ve earned, and it’s all about raising money to pay for bus fare. And with gas prices near record levels, the need may have never been greater.

To tell us about the program and how it’s going to work in its second year, please welcome the president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, Lorna Utley.

Lorna Utley:

Lloyd, Thank you very much.

Lloyd Jackson:

Thank you so much.

Lorna Utley:

Good morning, everyone. What a beautiful day to start off such an important thing. You know there’s natural disasters happening, we’re blessed with beautiful weather here, but we’ve got a challenge that only men can help and women can help to fix, and that is an opportunity to help the people we help everyday who are trained, get to that job when they find that job.

You know so many people want to work but have difficulty getting to work. And the bus, frankly, is the way to do it for many people. And until they have an opportunity to have a few paychecks and are able to do it themselves, Goodwill started last year, and we’re in our second year, starting a fund to give a bus pass or get on the bus, so people can in fact get that help, get that little step up that they need to get to work.

We all know how important it is and I think we forget sometimes those of us who are blessed with transportation day in and day out that we hop in our cars and go to work. But those folks who have had barriers to employment often times don’t have that same opportunity.

Lloyd Jackson:

To get the word out and drive support for this year’s campaign, two leading electronic outlets in southeast Michigan have stepped forward. One is News Talk 760 WJR, and you’ll be hearing about the “Get on the Bus” campaign throughout the campaign on WJR. Another is Comcast, and here to tell us about what you’ll be seeing on TV is Comcast Director of Communications for Michigan, Patrick Paterno. Patrick . . .

Patrick Paterno:

Thanks for having us out today. Comcast is proud to partner with Goodwill industries of Greater Detroit to spread and support the 2008 “Get on the Bus” campaign. We share the vision for “Get on the Bus” - raising funds to provide bus transportation to individuals that need help getting to and from the jobs they’ve earned.

Comcast will support the “Get on the Bus” campaign by providing Goodwill Industries with public service announcements across our channels in the next month, to help spread this tremendous initiative throughout the region during the campaign.

Goodwill Industries works to help individuals overcome barriers to employment and Comcast continues to create new jobs throughout the state.

Both Comcast and Goodwill industries are dedicated to improving the lives of individuals across southeast Michigan. Again, we are honored to be able to provide and help Goodwill during their campaign for “Get on the Bus.” Thank you very much.

Lloyd Jackson:

I just want to deviate a little bit from the script, just to let you know that I took a bus ride to work. Let me tell you it was a great experience. I met a lot of people on the bus who talked about why they’re on the bus, and if it was not for a bus they couldn’t get to work, and that means a lot.

So many people were going to so many different places in downtown Detroit to go to work and they needed a bus pass and they needed the bus ride. They didn’t have another way of transportation.

A lot of people like to get on the bus and sort their day and read a book and don’t have to deal with the hustle and bustle of the traffic. Let me tell you, you get downtown pretty quick on the bus. I just want to let you know that I’ve ridden this bus, it’s great, it’s comfortable, it’s air-conditioned.

Good people were on the bus and I enjoyed it very much. I’m thinking twice about maybe taking the bus.
We also want to recognize some individuals who are here today to lend their support to “Get on the Bus.”

One is Marianne Morang from SMART. She’s here to answer any question you have about the program and how it will work from SMART’s end. They say their ridership these days is the highest in years.

We want to recognize and thank Richard Bernstein. He is one of the leading advocates for public transportation in Southeast Michigan. As you may or may not have known, he led the charge to make sure that disabled riders have the access they need. Richard is a proud supporter of the “Get on the Bus” campaign. Thank you so much Richard.

Attorney Richard Bernstein:

The Talmud tells us that if you can change one person’s life, you’ve done nothing short of changing the entire world. Goodwill Industries looks at these programs in a holistic, spiritual way. They’re one of those entities that actually works, that actually thinks things through. You cannot have educational opportunities, you cannot have job placement opportunities, single handedly, and Goodwill recognizes that.

So often what government does is that they’ll put money into a job employment training program, or they’ll put money into educational opportunities, but they don’t put money into transportation, they don’t put money into getting people to those programs.

What Goodwill has done, is Goodwill recognizes, that for programs to work you have to have a holistic approach; you have to look at the person as a whole. That you don’t just don’t look at creating educational opportunities or employment opportunities without looking at what you have to do to get the people to those locations, without doing what you have to do to get the people to those jobs, getting people to those educational opportunities.

Goodwill actually works. Goodwill does what’s right. Goodwill does what’s important, because Goodwill does what entities and agencies should do, which looks at people as a whole.

When you look at people as a whole, that’s how you can truly help them and make a difference.