As families gathered for Thanksgiving and celebrated all they have, one 20-year-old in Elizabeth resident who works in Summit was grateful for something most people take for granted – her car.
Nicole Jenkins has not had an easy life, living within the state child welfare system and looking for a place to call home until she became a member of Community Access Unlimited (CAU) in 2016. CAU is a Union County-based, statewide nonprofit that strives to integrate people with disabilities and at-risk youth into the general community through housing, vocational and life-skills training, education, advocacy, recreation and more.
The agency’s Transitional Opportunities Program (TOP), of which Jenkins is a member, provides at-risk youth aged 13-21 with a variety of residential support and life-skills and employment training. Youth enrolled in TOP participate in an employment training workshop and receive interviewing and job training to prepare them to seek and find employment.
For Jenkins, this training paid off when she landed a job at a restaurant in Summit. But without a car, she had to rely on multiple bus rides to get to work and her classes at Essex County College. But thanks to one donor’s generosity, Jenkins is now getting around in a Sebring convertible.
CAU’s Vehicle Donation Program allows people donate their cars and receive a tax credit while helping an at-risk youth or person with disabilities attain the freedom of personal transportation. Unlike other vehicle donation programs, which sell the donated cars for only a portion of their value, CAU’s program transfers the full value of the car to the receiving member, according to Howard Wingard, supported housing coordinator at the agency.
“Our car donation program impacts their lives tremendously by giving them more independence and the freedom to travel where they need to go,” Wingard said. “It also gives them the opportunity to job seek in other areas and to be able to visit family and friends and reconnect with them.”
Jenkins is thankful for the donation — and newfound freedom — she has received from the program and its donors.
“It makes it much easier to get where I need to go and much faster,” Jenkins said. “I don’t have to wait for the bus. It’s like having a whole new level of independence. I’m grateful that I have the car because there are a lot of people who don’t and who don’t have the opportunities I have at CAU.
Anyone interested in donating a vehicle to CAU should contact the agency’s Development Department at 908.354.3040 or inf@caunj.org.
About Community Access Unlimited
Community Access Unlimited (CAU), celebrating its 39th year in 2018, supports people with special needs in achieving real lives in the community. CAU gives a voice to adults and youth who traditionally have little power in society, assisting its members with housing, life skills, employment, money management, socialization and civic activities. CAU also supports opportunities for advocacy through training in assertiveness, decision-making and civil rights. Currently serving more than 5,000 individuals and families, CAU continues to grow each year. For more information about CAU and its services, contact us by phone at 908.354.3040, info@caunj.org or by mail at 80 West Grand Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202.
(above) Nicole Jenkins is thankful for the car she received through the kindness of a donor to Community Access Unlimited’s Vehicle Donation Program.
