Hickory – Exodus Homes, a faith based United Way agency, is excited to announce the official roll out of their new Shuttle Service that is operated within their vocational training program Exodus Works. A year ago, the Hickory Metro Convention Center began hiring Exodus Works to shuttle convention center participants to and from remote parking lots during events. At first, Exodus had to use their own vans but soon they began renting Ford 350 XLT Transit Passenger vans so that the regular Exodus vans would not have to be pulled off of their normal routes, and for riders to have a more pleasant experience. Finding these vans to rent can be difficult as they are very popular, and sometimes last minute requests left them scrambling and going as far as Charlotte or Statesville to find an available rental. Given this, Exodus decided to purchase one van and keep renting the second van because often two are necessary.
Recently, two local foundations awarded grants to Exodus Works to purchase a second van to eliminate the complications of renting. The George Foundation gave $20,000 and the TSH Foundation gave $10,000 to buy a second van and $10,000 to advertise the new service. Exodus had raised some money by scrapping or selling older vehicles in their fleet to go with the grant funding to complete the purchase. “We are so grateful to the George Foundation and the TSH Foundation for helping reach our goal in expanding our shuttle service. They have been our partners before in other projects and we are excited to work with them again” said the Rev. Susan Smith, assistant executive director of Exodus Homes and Exodus Works.
The Exodus Works shuttle service has so far mostly operated at the Hickory Metro Convention Center, but they have provided shuttle services for large church events such as weddings and funerals, trips to the Charlotte or Asheville airports, field trips to Greensboro, and private parties. They are looking to expand the shuttle service to local businesses, churches, local airports, and anyone who needs a nice ride for a group of people. Each Ford 350 XLT Transit Passenger Van has 12 seats and two volunteer Exodus Workers – one to drive and the other to help passengers get on and off the vehicle.
Raleigh Wright has been a resident of Exodus Homes for over two years and is the assistant supervisor of Exodus Works as well as the coordinator of their new shuttle service. He is the primary driver in the shuttle service and the one responsible for the care of the shuttle vans. “I really enjoy meeting people and helping them get where they need to go. We want people to know that we are ready to help them get to their company picnic, family reunion, to and from the airport, or make any occasion better with shuttles to and from remote parking lots wherever they are” said Wright.
All revenue generated by the Exodus Works Shuttle Service goes to support Exodus Homes which provides 75 beds of faith based supportive housing to homeless people returning to the community from treatment centers and prison. The hourly fee for the shuttle service goes to Exodus Homes, and tipping is appreciated for the driver and driver helper. For more information about the Exodus Works Shuttle Service, please call 828-324-2390.
Photo: Raleigh Wright, assistant supervisor of Exodus Works, is seen standing between two Ford 350 XLT Transit Passenger Vans that are used in the new Exodus Works Shuttle Service. One van was purchased by Exodus Homes last year and the second more recent purchase was funded by the George Foundation and the TSH Foundation.
