by OnRamp Communications Director, Cassidy Somervill
Cassidy and her youngest, Peyton.
OnRamp shares God’s grace by gifting reliable vehicles to hard-working people in need to partner with them on the road to self-sufficiency.
People ask about this mission frequently. Some people wonder why we would GIFT a vehicle. That’s a big gift! Some people say “Just work hard and you can take care of yourself. Why do you need OnRamp to do it for you?”
But, what if you do work hard and it’s not getting you where you need or want to be? What if you were dealt the wrong cards in life? What if you have been struggling to get by even after showing up to work day after day? What if you have been applying to every job possible in your area and no one calls back? What if you have to choose between your light bill and putting food on the table for your family? What if?
There are so many “What If’s”, especially in the case of the clients and applicants who come through OnRamp’s program. But for our clients, these questions are not rhetorical; they are reality.
Let me put you in an OnRamp client’s shoes for just a moment:
You wake up, make breakfast for the family, get the kids ready for school, and start to head out the door. But, what if you get all of the kids buckled in, you sit down in the driver's seat, turn your key and your car does not start. No, it’s not the battery, you can’t jump it. No, you’re not out of gas, you just filled up last night. Your car is dead. Now, you are stuck. You can’t get the kids to school, you can’t get to work. The day is done.
Oh, but you can call someone to help, right? But, what if you can’t? What if you are a single mother and cannot lean on a spouse or partner? Okay, well you can call a family member to rescue you, right? No, you just fled from your hometown to escape domestic violence, so that option is out the window. Can’t the kids catch the bus? No, you live 2 miles from school, and that means buses aren’t an option. Can’t you get an Uber? No, if you pay for Uber, you’ll have no money for dinner tonight. What about work? Today was going to be your first day in a new job, but because no one else can watch the kids and you can’t drive to work, you’ll miss that opportunity, just like all of the opportunities you have missed before.
While this sounds awful, most of our clients have it even worse. Most don’t even have a broken-down car. Many don’t have a job lined up even after they have been searching, applying and interviewing. Many of our clients are starting from scratch.
And many are going through battles behind the scenes that floor any of us.
What if… they just lost their mother two days before this.
What if… they just found out their landlord is selling their home next month, and they’ll have to uproot again.
What if… they just found out their child was diagnosed with an illness that only the best doctors out of town can treat… and they have no way to even get there?
These are not hypotheticals. We have served clients suffering from each of these hardships.
So to those who would say to our applicants, “Just work hard and you can take care of yourself” we want you to know, they are already working as hard as they possibly could. They are not asking for help because they are lazy. They work harder than most of us could possibly imagine. They aren’t asking for a handout. They are asking for a hand-up. They are asking for us to partner with them on their heroic journey to self-sufficiency.
Now, let’s flip this story around. Here’s what it CAN look like when OnRamp gets involved…
This single parent calls her mentor who has been leading her in a domestic violence support group. She tells her mentor what happened, and thankfully, this mentor knows about OnRamp. The mentor goes to our website, fills out a nomination form, and then the single mom fills out an application. We review it, we hear her story, we see her struggles. We accept her as a client. We help.
With a reliable vehicle from OnRamp, her children are able to attend school. She is able to keep her job because she finally has the opportunity to punch in on time. She recieves ongoing support and resourcing from OnRamp staff and volunteers, including connection to a local GreifShare group to help her through the loss of her mom. When her child gets sick, OnRamp volunteers show her how to apply for assistance to pay for those medical bills. When her landlord sells the house, she is able to find new housing because she’s saved money thanks to OnRamp paying for her vehicle maintenance. By the grace of God, she stands.
So, we invite you to consider: what if you were her? What If you needed OnRamp?