Wheels To Work Cleveland

We followed up with Mr. Akhtar on how things were going with his donated car which he received in July.

As a direct result of the car, Mr. Akhtar was able to get a good job as an interpreter. He is the sole provider of a family of 6 (kids 3, 7, 9, 10). They arrived here in March of 2024 from Afghanistan. One of the first things refugee families will do in Cleveland is try to get a car. A car is a basic necessity in this city, not a luxury. I can’t stress that enough.

Not only the job, but with something like grocery shopping he’d have to wait a couple days to see if someone could take him. Now, “I can take my kids with me and they can get anything they need and want.”

He also shared a story where one of his young children got sick at 1am. He didn’t know what to do, so he drove his son to the Emergency room in his donated car. Everything worked out.

The whole idea behind this is that if you get the car to the right person, you can start a whole positive feedback loop. Get the car, get the job, less stress, take care of your children, do better at the job, be able to afford the next car… and so on.

We’ve followed up two years later on the first six cars. Every person was still employed and still had a vehicle.

It looks like this is really working.

Mr. Akhtar with his donated car! From Afghanistan, he arrived here in March of 2024 with his wife and four kids, ages 3, 7, 9, and 10. The first thing he did was borrow money from friends and family to buy a car to get a job. His car was stolen in May, but Wheels to Work and Re:Source Cleveland were able to get him this car by early July.

A car is a basic necessity in starting a life in Cleveland. From work to extracurriculars for kids, from grocery shopping to doctors appointments. Every other nonprofit in northeast Ohio sells the donated cars for cash, and a fraction of the value makes it to charity. With Wheels to Work, the car is transferred directly to people in need at no cost (the recipient needs to have a license, registration, and insurance, so they do pay something).

Thank you very much to the Hazen family (in the second picture) for their donation.

Donate your car to a person! It's one of the most impactful ways to help. Visit wheelstoworkcleveland.org for more information.

Fawad had recently arrived from Afghanistan when he received his car in September of 2021. In the midst of chaos, he said that, "The car brought stability to my life." It was a tool to help him and his family get started with a new life.

He used the car to get a job, as well as make extra money as a delivery driver on the side. His family could use the car for everything in between like grocery shopping or visiting family or school and appointments for the kids. We were able to follow up with Fawad, and 30,000 miles later he said the car is running great.

The car was donated by our friend Mark (who I like to call Marky Mark). He was only offered $300 for the trade in. Instead, he decided to really help someone. He said, "Wheels to Work finds people who don't know how they're going to get around, and give them hope. If you know what hopelessness feels like, and you have the means to be a part of something this special, you won't regret it."

Big thank you to Mohammad at Resource Cleveland for helping us to make this story happen.

Yay!

We followed up on this car, and the father of three was able to get a job as a direct result of the donated car. A donated car can have a massive multiplier effect and help people to build a new life.