Helping less fortunate (e.g. rideshare drivers)
I have been riding in Lyft/Uber more lately and enjoying my conversations around how the companies treat their "contractors." One young black man stood out as he was willing to discuss his arrangement of "renting" a car for $200+ per week all so he could make $100-$200/day at best working full time to support himself and his family. He got a tech related certification some years ago, but it hasn't helped him get a better job yet.
I want to be able to help folks like this and not let them waste their potential talents. I'm all for "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps" - what I think isn't right is how far some people are forced to pull themselves up.
How can we help those who have a long way to go with many societally placed obstacles in their way?
EDIT: tipping is assumed and isn't always as helpful as they may not have the financial insight/discipline to do much with relatively small amounts of more money. They need more (useful!) education and networking.
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In general, I don’t actually like one on one style approaches as a way to solve larger societal problems. We try and support nonprofits that we like, vote for things that improve the social safety net and education, and put pressure on politicians to get policies in place that we like.
I have friends who run a mixture retail/ customer-service companies, and have connections who work recruiting in all the major tech companies in the bay area.
Not trying to brag with the above, but I have handed out 4-5 cards to various people who tell me they're recently unemployed, but have never gotten an email/call back.