Client 213: A Survivor Overcomes

This brave mom (name withheld for safety) and her two young daughters fled domestic violence earlier this year and arrived in Bryan/College Station to build a new life. They moved in to Twin City Missions’ shelter and participated in their housing program, but didn’t want to stay there for longer than necessary. Even though this mom has been through severe trauma, she simply won’t give up. She now works 13 hour days plus weekends to provide for her girls, and as a result, they’ve been able to move into an apartment of their own. However, she has no vehicle and no family to rely on, which has made life incredibly challenging.

Her case manager at Twin City Mission noticed this mom’s desperate need for a reliable car, and so, nominated her to OnRamp. Her case manager shared how impressed she was with this mom’s honesty, hard work, and faithfulness to attend peer support group meetings every week even without a car to drive there. This is precisely the type of client we look for, and we immediately accepted her into our program. How could we say ‘no’ to a survivor like her?!

Last week, we gifted a reliable Honda Civic to this deserving mom and her daughters. When asked what she was most looking forward to doing with the new car, she said, “Take my girls to the park!” When you don’t have a car and Uber costs an arm-and-a-leg, discretionary trips like taking your kids to the park become a luxury mom’s can’t afford. She couldn’t wait to take her girls to Central Park for the first time to see the Christmas lights.

There are so many more deserving, hard-working parents like this in need of reliable vehicles in 2025. Can you help us serve them by making a year-end donation to OnRamp? We have a matching gift of $13,000 provided by two long-time donors. Please help us claim this matching gift by donating to OnRamp HERE between now and the end of the year. Every dollar helps transform lives for generations to come.

Client (in blue) with her advocate (middle) surrounded by (from left), OnRamp board member, Rami, Client Care Director, Taylor (with just one of her triplets!!), Prayer Team lead, Diane, and President, Blake.

Pictures and story shared with client permission.

Looking into the Future: Robotaxis

What does the future hold for automotive charities like OnRamp? I’ve spent a few days researching that question and crunching numbers, and the results may surprise you. We may be a charitable fleet of robotaxis in the not too distant future! Let me explain.

In the chart below, you’ll see a comparison of total costs over five years for two main options OnRamp may have in the future: continuing to gift a vehicle to a client vs. subsidizing a rideshare program such as Uber or Lyft. The costs for donations and repairs all reflect current 2024 numbers in our charitable program, through 212 vehicles donated so far.

Not surprisingly, the winner completely depends on client miles per year and cost per mile in the rideshare option because in that option, total price is 1:1 (highly) dependent on those two variables. Current national rideshare average cost is $2.40 per mile with Uber and Lyft, and BCS is a bit higher because trips are short and supply of rideshare vehicles is low. I calculated an average of $3 per mile over a set of sample Bryan/College Station trips. At that price, the rideshare option is a non-starter, costing multiple times our current program costs to donate and support vehicles. Note that the costs are totaled for five years rather than one year since our plan has always been to give 5 years of reliable transportation to our clients. Typically the donated car is used up and worth next to nothing at the end of that time, which is why I have not included it as an asset to sell at the end of five years.

But here's where it gets interesting. Tesla has stated that their autonomous taxi will cost $.30-40 per mile as a rideshare fleet vehicle. That's staggeringly low, even beating public transport per mile. For some safety margin, let's double that cost to $.80 per mile. The rideshare option actually becomes quite compelling for clients needing less than 10k miles per year. If Tesla actually succeeds at hitting $.40 per mile, I don’t see us ever giving a vehicle away again except in special circumstances such as very large families, work trucks, or wheelchair vehicles. To service most clients, we would simply provide free or subsidized rides through a fleet of autonomous robotaxis that we either own or lease.

So what do you think? Where am I off? What options or critiques would you add to the conversation?

And on that note, does anyone know anyone at Tesla who would want to discuss this? A partnership between Tesla and an automotive charity like OnRamp could help thousands of struggling individuals and families access essential transportation, and could create significant positive publicity for Tesla. There’s a real win-win opportunity here if we can ever get a foot in the door!

Hard Work Brings Success for Jae

Here is a massively encouraging success story for your lunchtime read! Jae has been an amazing OnRamp client this past year, and we want to update you on her progress now that she has her donated vehicle.

This single mom of three had done everything in her power to create a safe and flourishing home for her children even before getting her OnRamp vehicle. She completed Reach Project’s 28-week Entrepreneurship class and worked through Brazos County’s Family Self-Sufficiency program. That hard work motivated her mentor to nominate her to OnRamp for a minivan, which we gifted her one year ago.

What has she done with that vehicle? She’s completed two additional employment certifications which led to a substantial raise at work! She’s now a repair technician who changes the oil for all the CSISD buses we see around town. Before the vehicle, she was earning $2800 per month and needed government benefits to make enough to cover her bills. Now a year later, she earns $4000 a month in her new job; $5000 when overtime is authorized! She works every hour she can get, and as a result, is almost fully off of all government assistance. She has also enrolled in the Reach Project’s Home Ownership program to help her one day buy a home. The OnRamp van gets her to classes and to work, and gets her kids to church every Sunday. Speaking of her kids, with that raise at work, she’s been able to open a savings account for her kids to go to college! She’s using this vehicle to unlock a new and better future for her kids, and she’s taking great care of this investment by attending OnRamp’s Car Care Clinic to learn how to maintain her vehicle and ensure it lasts as long as possible. In the world of charitable work, you will rarely see such a high rate-of-return as this investment in Jae’s life!

To help OnRamp serve more clients like Jae, please consider donating to our Hand Up end-of-year campaign. And if you are one of the first to donate $500 or more, you will receive a *free*, exclusive Benjamin Knox Texas A&M puzzle as our thank-you! Here’s the link to the puzzle donation. This puzzle is perfect for the Aggie fan in your life. These limited-edition puzzles are available on a first-come, first-served basis until all 20 are claimed. Want to donate more than $500 and still receive a puzzle? Simply select “Custom Amount” while making your donation and enter any amount above $500. Spread holiday cheer and make a difference!