One day, Annie, a middle-aged woman and her 35-year-old disabled daughter came to us looking truly downcast. They had finally found an apartment manager that would accept their meager income, but the car they had been living in had broken down. “We are stuck on the side of the road and can’t even get to our new apartment; if we don’t get there, they might give it to someone else,” she worried. “If we could just get our car working again, everything else would work out.”
One of our volunteers who knows his way around a car was able to identify the source of their car problem. From our emergency assistance fund, we were able to buy the replacement part that was needed. A few hours later, with a gas voucher in hand, Annie climbed into her quietly humming vehicle. “This was almost the worst day of our lives,” she said, “but you have turned it into just about the best day!” Giving her car horn a quick touch, Annie was off to a new chapter in her life.