When you donate a vehicle, you help us provide shelter for families in need when they have no one else to turn to.

When you donate a vehicle, Volunteers of America is able to change people’s lives here in Delaware Valley. When you donate a car you help mothers like Tiara get back on their feet. Her story demonstrates the life-changing power of car donation to charities:

It’s a situation Tiara Williams never thought she would find herself in; homeless, jobless and with no one to turn to. She came to Volunteers of America Delaware Valley’s Eleanor Corbett house after the home of a friend she was staying with was foreclosed on. She says that she had “worn out her welcome” with friends and her parents and for the first time in her life, she literally had no one to lean on for support for her and her three kids, a two-year-old son and twins under the age of one.

But Tiara is not a victim. She was able to pull through when her twins were in the hospital for almost a month after they were born. She found the strength to begin school to better her life for her and her kids. And she is trying to find the will to continue now. “When I want something I really try and get it.”

But “getting it” proved to be difficult. The regulations surrounding The Department of Human Services, Social Security Administration and Welfare Department can be painfully difficult to navigate, even for the most motivated like Tiara. “I was getting discouraged,” she admits. She found an apartment, but was unable to stay there because rent was a dollar more than her benefits would allow. She has had an open case for child support for almost eight months.

While Tiara and her family have had her ups and downs, they were able to settle in, as much as possible, at Eleanor Corbett. When you donate a vehicle, you help Tiara and people like her get the support they need. “When I first came here I cried and the kids wouldn’t sleep.” She describes her first weeks as difficult. She felt uncomfortable being in the shelter so she would pack her kids up first thing in the morning, drive around looking for apartments and not coming back until just before curfew. Then her car began having problems, forcing her to be in the shelter more often and in turn allowing her to make friends with other clients and develop a relationship with her case manager. “My case manager was great. I could talk to her like she is one of my friends. Everyone at Volunteers of America Delaware is very, very nice.”

After several months at Eleanor Corbett House, Tiara was finally able to find a place of her own. She even continued her relationship with Volunteers of America Delaware Valley by being a recipient of our Adopt a Family program where her kids received Christmas gifts. Her goals now are to finish nursing school - her dream - pass the necessary exams, and start a happy life for her and her kids, on their own. When you donate a vehicle you help people like Tiara move one step closer to their dreams. At Volunteers of America Delaware Valley we are honored to have been part of her journey and know that Tiara and her family are on the road to success.