Starting Fresh. There is something powerful about leaving things in the rear-view mirror and driving off towards new horizons. Raquel had an established life, a business of her own, friends, routine and a nice place to live. When the pandemic happened all these “established” things began to fall through. She lost her cleaning business in Fresno, as no one wanted people in their home. She then couldn’t afford rent and things just snowballed. After a year of floundering she decided to move with her two children to San Jose where she had extended family who could support her emotionally. This was a completely new start.
While in Santa Clara County she received section 8 housing and was able to move into an apartment in which the rent is actually reasonable and sustainable. She has begun to work on establishing her own cleaning business here in this completely new area. Just as things were looking up her car began giving her trouble, one thing after another. She poured thousands of dollars into repairs only to have more trouble come. When MFM met Raquel she was desperate to figure out her transportation so she could get her business off the ground. After our inspection the car was deemed irreparable and was no longer drivable. This news was devastating.
It was then that MFM realized we wanted to give Raquel another new start with a fresh car for transportation. She filled out our form, sent us testimonies from others of her effort and need for this car and we were able to use an amazing grant from Mission City Community Fund to purchase this Santa Clara City resident a used RAV-4! The car will fit her vacuum, supplies and her two teenagers when she isn’t busy working to clean the homes of others. This vehicle wasn’t just a want but rather was a dream, a hope for a better feature - a fresh start.
