If you live in Brazos County and have not yet met a young woman named Rainn, you are missing out. She graduated Salutatorian from her High School and just obtained her bachelors in Social Work from UTA. She’s completing her internship hours this month, and then will start a Business degree at TAMU. That’s quite an accomplishment for any college student, but is astounding when you hear what she overcame. Rainn was raised in foster care. She progressed through the program at Unlimited Potential. She’s raising her two young children on her own. And she’s doing it all without a vehicle. As a result, Rainn has to pull her kids in a wagon from home to the bus stop whenever she needs to go anywhere. Then she loads the wagon and kids on the bus so they can get to school, work, childcare, or the store. On a normal week, she spends up to ten hours pulling the wagon and ten hours riding the bus! Imagine what this inspiring woman can do with a vehicle of her own that should give her twenty hours a week of her life back! Fortunately, Rainn has an amazing advocate in Linda who served as her CASA for nine years. Linda nominated her to OnRamp and we enthusiastically gave her this 2010 Honda Accord last week. Now Rainn and her kids and brother have reliable transportation to smooth their path towards attaining their goals and living out their amazing God-given potential.
Jesus told us that the second greatest commandment is to, “love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s impossible to obey if we don’t open eyes to see our neighbors, like Rainn, who are in need. So much of modern life is economically segregated. We live, work, worship, and play with people who are similar in financial standing. As a result, we can go through a week without ever seeing a neighbor like her unless we just so happen to notice her pulling her kids towards the bus stop as we fly by in our SUV’s. One of the most important aspects of OnRamp’s ministry is to introduce all of us to heroic individuals like Rainn who so often go unseen. Now you know your neighbor! And you are richer for it.
As you consider your end-of-year giving, we invite you to support OnRamp’s efforts to provide reliable transportation and a full year of support and encouragement to our neighbors in need. They are heroes, and it is our joy to play a part in their God-ordained stories. Please help us serve more this coming year.
PS. The last picture is my dad and I after we finished cleaning and prepping this Accord for Rainn. I highly recommend finding a way to serve with your family. It’s the best!
