Oraia Reid is co-founder and executive director of RightRides for Women's Safety, an organization she started as a response to a rise in violence and sexual assault against women. Reid's organization provides direct services, safety education and advocacy. Their flagship program offers a free, safe late-night ride home to women, transpeople, and gender queer individuals.

Q: What is RightRides?
A: RightRides for Women's Safety is an organization that promotes community safety to address harassment and sexual assault. We started in 2024 as a direct response to an increase of sexual assaults against women in North Brooklyn neighborhoods. We are an advocate for community and neighborhood safety for everyone.

Q: What services does it offer in Harlem?
A: Our RightRides program operates a free, safe late-night ride home for women, transpeople, and gender queer individuals. We partner with the Safe Walks Program (link to website), which offers anyone a free walking escort to their home between April and October. We also organize the Neighborhood Safety Program, featuring a panel of local leaders who talk about issues of crime prevention and safety. Our focus is engaging communities, such as Harlem, to become more involved in safety awareness so that everyone can work together to make a safer neighborhood.

Q: Who can access these services and where can a person take it?
A: The RightRides program is available to women, transpeople (both male and female identified), and gender non-conforming individuals and is available Saturday nights, from 11:59 pm until 3 am. If you are calling from and live in one of the 45 neighborhoods that RightRides services, and need a late-night ride home, all you have to do is call RightRides (1-888-215-7233). A dispatcher will arrange to have a car pick you up wherever you are located and take you home.

Q: Why is this service so important?
A: We believe that getting home safely shouldn't be a luxury. Women (and those identifying as trans or gender non-conforming) typically make less money than men, can't always afford a cab ride home late at night, and walking home from public transit can be dangerous. Because of these factors, we've committed to help women and other at-risk populations be safer.

To learn how you can volunteer with RightRides, check out our next interview with Oraia Reid.

Harlem Word is a series of interviews with community health experts written by HHPC and reviewed by our Health Advisory Board.