Redeem = to regain possession of something through payment; to buy the freedom of something or someone.
For those who grew up in church, the word “redeem” or “redemption” automatically triggers thoughts of salvation, heaven, and eternal life. Indeed, the greatest redemption offered humanity is that won by Jesus on the cross. Yet we are often too quick to jump to the spiritual and neglect the everyday power of this word. Redemption is something needed regularly by struggling families in our town. Case in point, your donations to OnRamp allowed us to bring “redemption” to a local CSISD Early Head Start family. While the mom was in the hospital having a c-section to deliver their newest child, their apartment complex flagged her car for a flat tire. As in most lower-income apartment complexes, being flagged for a disabled car means a person has 24 hours to fix it before the apartment complex calls a tow truck. But this family never got the warning - they were in the hospital! So the apartment had the car towed to impound where it would cost $390 + $25 per DAY to “redeem.” By the time the family got home from the hospital and found out what happened, they could not pay the exorbitant bill… and it kept rising every day. If not paid in a timely fashion, the tow yard would eventually own the car. This was a tragedy in the making. With nowhere to turn, they reached out to Head Start who reached out to us and we immediately drove to the impound lot and paid the full bill on the spot to redeem the car and deliver this family (negotiation is not possible with tow yards - there is rarely grace in such places). Your generosity to OnRamp purchased actual, literal redemption for this family from the impoverishment they would have experienced if their car was seized and they were no longer able to get to work, the doctor, or the store. Thank you for helping us share redemption with families-in-need in our town!
Here’s another opportunity. You can donate to help OnRamp raise $10,000 for a vehicle for Kathryn, a student at Texas A&M who recently underwent a leg amputation after an accident and the discovery of a mass. Kathryn has travelled as far as Temple using a moped to get to and from doctors appointments, school, and work! This is incredibly unsafe, but she has no choice. She has no car, no funds to purchase a car, and nowhere to turn. With a vehicle, she will be able to safely get to all of her crucial appointments without risking her life on a moped next to semis! We gave her a temporary vehicle last week, a very high mileage Camry to keep her safe. But it won’t last indefinitely. We need help to raise funds to buy her a permanent, reliable car to get her through school safely and successfully. If you can donate, please visit our “Give” page.
The OnRamp team giving Kathryn a short-term, very-high mileage Camry to keep her safe on her trips to the doctors while we raise money for a long-term vehicle. We didn’t want her driving a moped to Temple while we work to raise funds!