| Advertisement |
June 14 (UPI) -- TV personality Kim Kardashian announced a new program in partnership with Lyft to provide former prisoners with rides to job interviews during an event at the White House to reduce recidivism. She spoke alongside President Donald Trump on Thursday in an event to promote second chance hiring -- giving formal criminals a chance at gainful employment after they're released from prison.
Advertisement
"I'm so happy to announce today that we have a ride-share partnership where formerly incarcerated people will be gifted gift cards so that they can get rides to and from job interviews," Kardashian said.
This isn't the first time Kardashian has visited the White House to promote prison reform. In May 2018, she spoke with Trump in the Oval Office to seek a reprieve for Alice Johnson, a 62-year-old woman serving a life sentence for a first-time drug offense. Trump granted Johnson clemency and she was released from prison in June 2018.
Kardashian said she's made prison reform a focus of her efforts because "the ultimate goal is everyone wants the community to be safe."
"And the more opportunity that ... [former prisoners] have, and the support we help give them, the safer everyone will be," she said Thursday.
During the event, Trump announced a second chance hiring initiative to give former prisoners a chance to be employed. The partnership between federal government agencies, the private sector and non-profit organizations will create fidelity bonds in some states to provide a financial guarantee to companies willing to hire people with a criminal record. The Department of Education also will provide Pell Grants for formerly incarcerated people to get a higher education.
"When we say 'hire American,' we mean all Americans," Trump said.
