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Brian, his wife and 2 children are struggling because they do not have reliable transportation. Their 1988 car died, and they have been borrowing vehicles from family members to get by because the bus does not accomodate their work hours and location.
Thank you to Elder Ford of Tampa, Clayton Gray Home and all of our donors for a successful #GIVEDAYTAMPABAY. With the support of our community, Wheels of Success raised: $12,200!
Denise is a single mother with a rising high school age daughter. Denise's work schedule as a legal assistant makes it a challenge for her to get home in time to spend time with her daughter. Additionally Denise is balancing studies at Hillsborough Community College where she is studying to become a paralegal.
When Joseph was promoted to Kitchen Restaurant Department Manager (RDM) over a year ago his supervisor made it very clear that in order to keep this position, Joseph would need to get a car. The vehicle he received from Wheels of Success on Labor Day not only helped Joseph keep his promotion, but he also received a raise and moved to a restaurant cloer to his home. Having extra time is a big deal for someone who often opted to walk 1.5 to 2 hours to work because unreliable transportation made him late numerous times.
Margaret* is currently living in a transitional shelter for Veterans and anxiously wants to get her life back on track. She currently spends 2 hours a day just communiting one way to her job as a medical assistant. On some days she spends as manys as 2 hours a day waiting in the dark, just to catch the bus. Purchasing groceries and household items are a huge challenge for Margaret as she lives a quarter of the mile from the bus stop and has diffculty transporting her items back to the shelter.
Huge congratulations to Anthony who is now a registered state and national EMT!! Anthony credits his ability to complete his training for becoming an emergency medical technician to having reliable transportation. Prior to receving his vehicle, Anthony was not sure he could successfully complete the program due to the strict punctuality guidelines for class that are not achievable with public transportation.
When Carmen was referred to Wheels of Success, she was was recovering from a surgery that left her unable to work for several months. Her time away from work resulted in the loss of her vehicle. Upon return to work after initial recovery, Carmen's biggest challenge was transportation. Carmen found it virtually impossible to meet the demands of traveling to/from work, her children's school and continued medical needs for her recovery.
Michelle* is a caregiver and domestic violonce survivor who is currently involved in a brutal divorce proceeding. Most recently her abusuer took out his anger with the court proceedings by destroying her vehicle. Since this time Michelle has been without personal transportation.
When Monica was referred to Wheels of Success, she was living with her young children at one of Metropolitan Ministries' shelters. Through hard work and determination, Monica completed the program and went on to obtain a job with Laser Spine Institute. Transportation enabled Monica to be reliable which resulted in a promotion and salary increase. Monica was able to spend more time with her children at school activities and to visit with family outside of the Tampa Bay area.
Michelle* is a 22 year old young woman who was recently granted legal guardianship of her three siblings after her mother passed away. She maintains 2 part-time jobs while going to school online to complete her GED.