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Uber and the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information Services (WVFRIS) announced a partnership last week to provide ride credits and meal vouchers for the WVFRIS rape crisis centers' survivors.
The collaboration's goal is to provide reliable transportation to community-based services provided by the WVFRIS, including advocacy networks, counseling and forensic examinations, lowering the boundaries to care, according to Tracy Shroyer-Carlyle, the WVFRIS co-executive director. Patients are also able to get meals delivered using Uber Eats during lengthy services or appointments, she said.
The mini grant funding was awarded to four of the WVFRIS centers: the Charleston, Morgantown, Huntington and Martinsburg locations. Shroyer-Carlyle explained that representatives at these centers are responsible for setting up survivors with Uber accounts and allocating funds when appropriate.
"It is entirely up to the four rape crisis centers how to use those [funds] for what the community needs," she said. "It is in order to make sure that victim services continue uninterrupted, regardless of ability to access transportation."
Shroyer-Carlyle expressed concern for patients who live in rural West Virginia who previously did not have a reliable transportation service to appointments.
"We know that West Virginia doesn't have public transportation, and that many folks live rurally," she said. "This is a way that if a survivor has to have that sexual assault evaluation at that hospital, they can have a meal while they're there or get a ride back to their home county."
The initiative is supported by Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, according to a release from the WVRIS.
"Anything we can do to help ensure women and survivors have access to the care and support they need during some of the most difficult moments in their lives is incredibly important," she said in the release.
Shroyer-Carlyle encourages all survivors or loved ones to reach out to their local crisis center for help. A list of the WVRIS 12 statewide locations can be found at https://fris.org/centers/.
"There are many reasons that a victim of sexual violence might hesitate to reach out. We know that there can be a culture of disbelief of victims, but we know that sexual violence does in fact happen, and it does negatively affect the victim," she said. "We just want folks to know that we're here to support their needs, and the rape crisis centers are here to support their needs, and we hope that they know that there's a place they can reach out if they need to."
The National Sexual Violence Hotline, operated by the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN), can be reached at 1-800-656-4673. In emergencies, call 911.