WASHINGTON — Public transportation can be dangerous for D.C. kids, so The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project is offering them a safer alternative: using rideshare.
“I've seen bloodshed on trains. I've seen people get robbed on trains. I fear for my life on trains. And today our youth say the same thing," T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project founder Tia Bell said.
Last Thursday, the mom of 14-year-old Avion Evans said he was on his way to an after-school program when he was shot and killed on a platform at the Brookland Metro station.
Police said a fight broke out between some teenagers, and allege a 16-year-old approached the group and fired a gun, killing Evans.
High school junior Mike Adjanla said it's situations like this one that make him want to avoid public transportation.
“When you have a lot of expensive stuff on yourself, expensive stuff on your shoes, clothes, expensive stuff on your body, like people always try to rob you," Adjanla said.
That's why Bell started TRIGGER Safe Rides.
Initially through a partnership with Uber, it provides vouchers to kids to use rideshare instead of taking the train or the bus.
“We need that assurance that they will get from door to door and live," Bell said.
In October, Uber gave the T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project $5,000 in credits to offer these vouchers, but Bell said that quickly ran out.
She said they typically give a child a $50 voucher to take an Uber to and from their destination. On average, she said they're giving them to 30 kids.
That means in one night, they can spend $1,500 on these vouchers.
“We're not going to last. Our babies' heartbeats are not going to last. Their mental health will not sustain," she said. "And my mental health certainly will not sustain.”
And her "babies" said they need this program and Bell to sustain, because they're making a difference.
“T.RI.G.G.E.R. Project has like enlightened me on the type of violence that occurs in D.C. and how I can stay away from it, and how I can prevent it," high school junior Philip Abatan said. "I think like it’s not an easy change, but it’s definitely something that can be changed with more events that actually help the youth."
Events like the one the group held last Thursday at the Anacostia Arts Center -- the same day Evans was killed.
Bell hosted it to mark the Project's growth from an idea to honor her uncle, who she lost to gun violence, to a youth development program that has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of kids over the last four years.
“My mother was a victim of gun violence when I was 10. And then losing friends, right before I lost my uncle when I was 17. And it being normalized all the way up until then," she said. "And then just my heart ache led to my purpose.”
Her mother did survive that shooting and helps her lead her nonprofit today.
“When you’re going through a lot of pain, that’s what makes people pick up the gun," Adjanla said. "So, I just make myself happy, and Miss Tia, she’s the main part of my happiness, honestly."
She is also the reason he and Abatan arrived safely to Thursday's event.
Bell said she has been paying for these vouchers to continue now that the Uber credits have run out, but she can't continue doing so.
She is asking for any businesses who feel inspired to give to help them continue the TRIGGER Safe Rides Program.
You can contact her by visiting her website or email directly at join@thetriggerproject.org.
One viewer wrote in asking how kids are allowed to take these Ubers alone.
Bell said the group secures consent from the parents of all the kids who receive these vouchers and then help set them up with a teen account or through their parents.