For some people, making the morning commute to work isn’t a big deal, it’s not even something you give much thought to. But for others, the commute to and from work could be the reason you can’t find employment.
Thanks to our partnership with Commute with Enterprise, the Pathway to Employment workforce has transportation to boost the beautification of Indianapolis.
Meet Brooke Kimmet
In 2018, Brooke Kimmet from Commute with Enterprise met with RecycleForce President Gregg Keesling to learn more about the organization. “I played college softball at IU and IUPUI, and I started working for Enterprise right out of college. I started out working in the branches, then went over to our truck department, and now I’ve been in Commute for about two and a half years.”
Commute with Enterprise is relatively new within Indiana. “When I took over the division, we had about 20-30 vans,” said Kimmet. “Where we’ve really been able to grow is for reliable, affordable transportation. When you traditionally think of van pools, you think of people that work in offices, or California or Texas, in places where commuting or sustainability is a problem. In Indiana, the idea of van pooling is not something we really think about because we don’t have a ton of bad traffic.”
The van pools come into play in Indiana for the hourly jobs, second chance employees, and staffing agencies – getting people to work that can’t afford to own their own vehicle, or that don’t have a bus stop near them. Another factor is public transportation during the Covid-19 pandemic; people don’t necessarily want to ride on public transportation with strangers, but a van pool is more controlled.
We have a contract through Pathways to Employment, city of Indianapolis helping with the vans for our employees.
Commute with Enterprise
Commute with Enterprise is a smarter way to commute to work – riding together creates less pollution and Enterprise provides a reliable ride to work in a comfortable and contained environment.
“The basis of Commute with Enterprise is we find people coming from the same area, they meet at a central meeting location, ride to work and ride back,” said Kimmet. “We provide all the insurance, maintenance, etc. When I met with Gregg two years ago, he let me know they needed transportation, which is where Commute came into play. Our vans are cost-effective and provide valuable time back in commuters’ days.”
“The reason why I love working with RecycleForce and Keys2Work is that there are so many opportunities for jobs out there and there are so many folks that want a second chance and are ready for work, but they don’t have the means of getting there. I saw my dad go to work every day and it helped me think that’s what I was going to do one day. I can help someone get employed by offering transportation and it goes down the family line. That’s my favorite thing – offering a recourse for them to be able to be employed, help their family, and help further generations. It’s for their kids, their family, and for them to get back on their feet. It’s amazing to think, wow, just working at a car rental company I never thought I’d be able to do that! We take for granted our transportation but for some people it’s one of their biggest issues.”