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Single parents get ‘Wheels of Success’
By SUZETTE PORTER
| Article published on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 |
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| Photo courtesy of PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE |
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| Five single parents received keys to used vehicles Friday morning as part of the Wheels for Success program. From left, are Cari Frounfelter, recipient of keys; Bob Helmick, manager of Sheriff’s Fleet; Jim Coats, Pinellas County sheriff; Jerry Babcock, director of PAL; Richelle Shelton, recipient of car keys; and Joseph Miller, manager of Greater Ridgecrest Area Youth Initiative. |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – Five single parents got an extra special holiday gift on Dec. 21: “Wheels to Success.”
Thanks to a partnership between the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Greater Ridgecrest Area Youth Development Initiative and the sheriff’s Police Athletic League, five single parents received keys to vehicles, “which will help these families get a new start and become contributing members of the community,” according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office.
The purpose of “Wheels of Success” is to help single parent families to be more independent and successful by allowing them to enter an agreement to maintain a donated vehicle. The vehicles are donated by the Sheriff's Office and are higher mileage vehicles no longer in service and destined to be auctioned.
Single parents who receive a vehicle are required to fill out an application, pass screening and abide by the requirements of the program.
Reese Sturgis, 35, is a single parent caring for nine children. He rides his bike to two jobs. He explained why having a vehicle would help.
"Riding a bike to the grocery for 10 people can be difficult. If I had a vehicle I would be better able to meet the needs of my children. I don't mind working hard ...but I do mind taking so much time to travel around when I can be doing homework of having fun with my children."
Gwendolyn Harris, 25, is the mother of two boys who escaped a severely abusive relationship. She said that getting a vehicle would be a "life changing opportunity. I can finally become more independent and continue to work (as a certified nursing assistant), return to college for nursing and become the self-sufficient parent I have dreamed of being."
Melvina Khalifa is a single parent of four children, who said she has to take three buses each way to make doctors' appointments for them. A vehicle would help her maintain employment and childcare. She is also hoping to return to school.
Cari Megan Frounfelter, 20, is a single mother of a 2-year-old with another son on the way. She had relied upon a family member for transportation to work and appointments, but the family member recently passed away. She wrote that a car would help her keep her job and her apartment.
"I am trying to create a life for my kids that I never had. Everything I do now I do for my children," she said.
Gwendolyn Miller, 48, is the parent of a 14-year-old daughter. She has medical challenges and an unreliable car which makes maintaining full employment difficult.
She said she has always been proudest of her "ability to keep moving forward" despite adversity. Having a car would "help keep my head above water (so that I) won't have to rely on the system to take care of me.
For more information on the Wheels for Success program, call 727-582-6221.
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Article published on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007
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