Joining Forces to Assist Veterans Experiencing Homelessness

Supporting veterans and military families is an important priority for Uber and our employees. Just over a year ago, we launched our UberMILITARY program, and since then, nearly 40,000 veterans and members of the military community have joined the Uber platform.

In honor of Veterans Day tomorrow, we are proud to announce that Uber will work with the White House and Joining Forces to help make life a little easier for veterans experiencing homelessness.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that there are more than 49,000 veterans experiencing homelessness on any given night. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that sixty-eight percent of these veterans reside in cities where a lack of reliable transportation makes it difficult to reach much-needed services and employment opportunities.

Over the coming year, Uber will contribute an estimated 10,000 rides — a value of $125,000 — across five veterans organizations affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program to provide on-demand transportation to jobs, interviews, and other employment events.

“Veterans experiencing homelessness face many obstacles during their reintegration back into the workforce. Lack of transportation should not be one of these issues. This initiative by Uber will have a major impact in helping our nation’s veterans get to where they deserve to be…employed.” — Baylee Crone, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans

Riders and drivers will also have an opportunity to participate in this meaningful effort. Tomorrow, in more than 150 cities nationwide, riders will be able to donate $5 towards a ride for a veteran experiencing homelessness.*

Here’s how riders can donate:

• On Nov. 11, move the slider over to ‘VETS DAY’ in your Uber app.
• Your uberX — sporting a new look in honor of Veterans Day — will pick you up.
• At the end of your trip, you’ll get an SMS text message from Uber. All you have to do is reply YES to complete the donation.
• After you donate, you’ll get a receipt for your trip, as well as a receipt for your donation.
• Drivers will receive an email with instructions on how they can participate.

We are also recognizing the service of some of our top UberMILITARY driver-partners this year by joining efforts with our strategic partners Starwood Preferred Guest and American Airlines. The top 100 UberMILITARY driver-partners will receive a free night’s stay at a Starwood hotel, such as Sheraton, Westin, W and more. Of these 100, the top 10 driver-partners will also receive 25k AAdvantage miles on American Airlines.

Thank you to the brave men and women who have served our country and to the military families who have supported their service. It takes tremendous sacrifice and commitment to be a servicemember. We’re proud to strengthen our commitment to you, and we salute you this Veterans Day and every day.

Emil Michael is Senior Vice President of Business for Uber and the Executive Leader of UberMILITARY. Earlier in his career, Emil spent a year and a half as a Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who is currently chairman of the UberMILITARY Advisory Board.

*$0.25 of each $5 donation will be used to cover processing fees.