‘So many women that want to work but they don’t have a way to get there’: Nonprofit offers free rides for single mothers

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    OMAHA (KETV) — A small nonprofit is helping single moms get to the places they need, one free ride at a time. For one woman, there’s a personal connection that drives her to help other women get further in life.

Part of Berhan Tadesa’s daily routine these days is pulling up to the homes of single mothers and helping them get to and from places like work or day care.

“I don’t want them to experience that problem I already went through already,” Tadesa said.

One woman Tadesa helps is 25-year-old Chantal Nyabezige.

“She’s born and raised in Congo, and then she went to Kenya in 2014 and then she came here August 2023,” Tadesa said, as she translated for Nyabezige with KETV Newswatch 7.

Life has been far from easy for Nyabezige, who has been a refugee for years now.

“(When) the war start, everybody runs different ways, to save your life. So she doesn’t know if (her family is) alive, or if they’re dead. She doesn’t know anything, she only knows about her sister,” Tadesa said.

But ever since nonprofit MOMentum purchased a Subaru in February, Tadesa has been able to take Nyabezige to places like the child care center where she works, as well as DHHS appointments.

Tadesa actually knew Nyabezige before either of them moved to Omaha.

“I moved here, 2019,” Tadesa.

“When I get here, I don’t know anybody, I don’t know anybody so I was by myself and then life was very hard,” Tadesa said.

While Tadesa is still adjusting to American life herself, she’s determined to help other refugees along the way. And that’s why MOMentum’s CEO Meredith Metcalf says she was the perfect person to hire as a full-time employee.

“There are so many women that want to work, but they don’t have a way to get there and we live in a very car-dependent city,” Metcalf said.

Metcalf and Tadesa are determined to break down barriers when it comes to transportation and help women on the road to self-sufficiency.

MOMentum helps single moms secure new employment opportunities and provides career coaching. They say their funding comes from grant support and donations.

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