Job Access and Reverse Commute (jarc) Program fy 2009 Service Profiles Region X alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington October 2010 fta-08-0162 Job Access and Reverse Commute (jarc) fy 2009 Service Profiles: Region X

Metropolitan Family Service (504)

Ways to Work (440)

Location: Portland Metro Region (OR)
Type: Capital Investment Projects/Vehicle for individual
Goal: Improved access/connections
Service description: Ways to Work builds a bridge between low-income families that need employment and major employment centers. For many low-income parents, the commute from their residence to their employer can be a long and complex one and includes side trips to their children’s school, daycare, or doctor’s office. The geographic range of even the most comprehensive transit system is limited, making promising jobs simply inaccessible to the people who need employment the most. This diminishes opportunities for low-income families to make a transition from welfare to work. Ways to Work seeks to overcome one of the most prevalent barriers to employment for low-income individuals – lack of reliable and practical transportation.
Evaluation: Success is measured by the number of loans issued and the loan default rate. Our loan volume goal is 48 loans per year. Our default level must be lower than 15%. This year our loan volume is on track to be slightly under our goal due to the economic slowdown and heavy job losses among low-income adults in the Portland Metropolitan Area. Our default rate is among the lowest in the nation.
Accomplishments: In 2008 MFS Ways to Work received a Premier Program Award from Ways to Work National for a combination of loan volume and default rate. Our greatest accomplishment is keeping a default rate of under 4% while serving very low-income clients. Ways to work can serve families who earn up to $80% of the area median income. Forty percent of MFS borrowers are at the federal poverty level. Ways to Work is innovative because it is a program that fills transportation gaps for low-income families and serves to alleviate poverty. Nationally, borrowers have shown an average income increase of 41%.
Lessons learned: Because Ways to Work is a national program, local programs are provided a lot of support. The most difficult aspect of the program model is raising yearly operating funds. We have learned that marketing a program such as Ways to Work has its challenges as well. With very little money budgeted for marketing, it has taken four years to build a program through partner referrals, word or mouth, and local media stories