Briana Gray recently turned in her two weeks notice to her employer.
The 25-year-old mother of two has been working for First Student as a bus driver, transporting students at Jefferson City High School and Simonsen Ninth Grade Center in Bus 77. Though working in transportation, she had none of her own.
As the sun rises later in the mornings, Gray no longer felt safe walking the trek - totaling an hour and 45 minutes - from her home to work with her 4-year-old daughter. She started her days at 4 a.m., walking the sidewalk-less streets from Southridge Drive to Route C to Southwest Boulevard to Industrial Drive. There was only one nearby grocery store, and Gray had to walk on Missouri 179 to get there.
Without a personal vehicle, Gray has endured the stress of wondering how to travel from place to place while trying to provide for her family. At first, she paid a $75 weekly in taxi fees for daily one-way trips to work, but the expense was too great. She received rides from friends and family when possible, and eventually drove her bus to and from work, thanks to her employer.
She was relieved of those woes Wednesday when Working Wheels for Working Families, a local non-profit organization, handed her the keys to a 2000 green Hyundai Sonata.
"I put on my seat belt, and I had to take a breath," Gray said.
Working Wheels for Working Families takes donated vehicles - running or not - and re-conditions them for low-income families who go through a screening process. Recipients must be employed and insurable, at the 200 percent poverty level or below, without a vehicle and a resident of the greater Jefferson City area. They are also required to have a dependant, clean driving record, and they could not have ever been convicted of a felony.
The new car owners pay a minimum of $400 for the vehicle, and they maintain insurance costs and upkeep. Working Wheels for Working Families provide a $500 warranty for any repairs within the next following six months. Automotive students at the Nichols Career Center make repairs on donated cars or trucks, and The Car Guys!, a local auto repair center, provides a free inspection.
Gray said she feels like she and her children have a new life. Eventually, she hopes to put her education to use and work as a certified nurse's assistant in hospice care. When she's saved enough money, Gray wants to treat her daughters to a trip to Going Bonkers, a children's playplace in Columbia.
"I'm just overwhelmed because now we can go out instead of sitting in the house all day and all night," she said. "My children can look forward to going somewhere after school instead of staying in the house. When my daughter comes in now, I say, "Put your night clothes on,' and it's only five o'clock."
This Thanksgiving and the days beyond, she said she's grateful for those who've gotten her to where she is today: Working Wheels for Working Famillies, the Salvation Army's Salvation of Hope, Mindy Hazlett with Salvation Army, House of Refuge Worship Center, her friends and co-workers.
"I'm just thankful," Gray said, "beyond thankful."