Carla's
Story
 Carla
says that Wheels of Success gave her family
the perfect Halloween treat when they gave
her a 2001 Daewood Leganza in October. Before
that, she didn’t know how many more of
life’s cruel tricks she could endure.
After her 15-year-old daughter was murdered,
Carla’s life began to spin out of control
financially and every other way. She says that
she was always crying as were her other children.
Then one day she prayed for the strength to
carry on for her family. She decided her daughter
was such a happy girl that she would not want
her mother to be so sad.
Meanwhile, Carla’s employer – Hillsborough
County Schools – recommended her to the Wheels
of Success program. When the call came
from WOS, Carla’s first thought was that
someone was playing a terrible joke on her.
Instead of a trick, however, she says that
it proved to be the perfect Halloween treat!
Carla really believed that she could move forward
given the self-sufficiency a vehicle would
afford her; now she had the chance to prove
that.
Says Carla, “I really feel like such
a different person since getting the car. I
didn’t even realize how disillusioned
I had gotten about life until I started feeling
like myself again. Now, I can take myself,
my kids and my grandkids anywhere we need or
want to go.”
Carla says that everyone else notices the
change in her also. She tells everyone she
meets about what Wheels of Success did
for her life. “I’ve already found
someone to donate a van and someone else to
donate a car,” she shared. “I just
tell them, ‘Look you can help someone
else like me by doing this.’ I really
believe in the program’s philosophy of paying
it forward!” |
Wheels
of Success is Tampa Bay's only 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
providing a full range of transportation solutions, including
vehicle replacement; car repair; and licensing, car payment and
down payment assistance to low and moderate income working families.