Second Chance Cars, Inc.

06/11/2026

Mara, a single mother of two, entered Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School clearly nervous--she was about to get her new car, something she was waiting for and struggling mightily without. Her nerves turned to steady tears once she realized that we were all there for her. Once the car award ceremony ended, I noticed Mara at the center of a group of largely young women auto tech students; these students swarmed her with such curiosity, emapthy and love that her initial anxiety and tears literally turned to laughter and joy. One of these amazing young women said to me" it's important for us to learn from Maya. We are entering a male-dominateed sector and Maya can teach us a lot about resilience." As Mara drove out of the auto tech hanger in her gleaming 2010 Toyota Corolla (donated by Margaret Whited), all the girls, who were waiting patiently for this moment, rose clapping and shouting, cheering her on her way. What a great moment and display of humanity. Video of this great award in the Comments!

06/08/2026

I am happy to report that we just got our biggest-ever grant, a $150,000 gift over three years from the Cummings Foundation. 2025 saw us almost doubling the number of vocational schools we work with, from 10 to 18; this generous grant will allow us to invest in the staffing and systems we need in order to work effectively with this growing and more spread out community of partner schools, and get more people to work in doing so.

06/03/2026

Five Somerville High School CTE Auto Tech Seniors, led by CTE Director James Hachey and instructors Josh Richardson and Curt Raposa, took on the equivalent of doing open heart surgery on a 2010 Subaru Forester and showcased the skills they learned over the past four years. Michael, an Air Force veteran who received the Subaru, will now be able to save $900 a month renting a car to get to his job driving a van to transport other Bedford VA veterans to work! A special thanks to Fenix - Massachusetts who generously donated a used engine after the students learned that the engine they had just rebuilt had a fatal flaw! 😞 The students then proceeded to remove the bad engine (for the second time), and rebuild and install the Fenix engine and the Subaru and Michael were good to go!!!

05/06/2026

TJ, a returning citizen in recovery, works 70 hours a week (!) doing construction during the day and overnight at Cumbies. He spends six hours a day (!) on public transportation getting to both jobs. Insane. With a car, this hard working guy will cut his commute by five hours every day (!), giving him time to live and sleep and focus on his goal of going to veterinary school.
Edna’s donation of her 2006 Honda Civic enabled us to support TJ, our second “Community Cars” awardee. Community Cars is a pilot program led by our intern Hannah Roden (r) and is an important step in our efforts to expand access to reliable transportation.
A special thanks to Keri Sullivan (m) for the referral, and to TJ's budget advisor John Paul Ramos for his continued commitment to our car recipients. Link tio video in the Comments!

04/16/2026

It was very moving to meet Mya, a Highschool Senior who was commuting 3 hours a day after school to get her job at Whalburgers, a commute that could take only 30 minutes if she had a car! Well, that sad party is over with a Mercury Milan Hybrid donated by Richard and Marguerite Morris and refurbished by the amazing Auto Tech Sophmotes at Worcester Technical High School. Let's go, Mya!

03/23/2026

Ever heard of a drink called "Mai Thai Rod"? Caitlin Dyer-Alvarez is a culinary student Medford Public Schools that is creating Mocktails with automotive names for our annual dinner this week. Thanks for the support from Chef Matt Crook and principal Chad Fallon--should be a great night.

03/13/2026

wow! This is the closest I’ve ever seen to a feature-length car award! Grab some popcorn sit back and enjoy this great somerville high school crew and the many people came together to help a terrific veteran get to his job as a mechanic.

Somerville, MA: Second Chance Cars partners with Somerville High School’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) automotive program to refurbish donated vehicl...

03/13/2026

Go Mari!!!

03/12/2026

Anne gave her daughter Jamila her Yaris. Jamila then donated it to us. Together we awarded the Yaris today to veretan Jackson. Thank you Nicole, Manny and Patrick from Veteran's, Inc. for supporting great veterans, including Jackson! Video link in the Comments.

03/02/2026

Brittany was a mom at twenty who, as she says, "has been to places and had her struggles", including living with her four girls in a shelter. With financial coaching from Women's Money Matters, Brittany was able to not only stabilize but also began coaching other women for WMM! While this was happening, donor Gerry McDonald and employer Advance2000 donated their 2011 Nissan Sentra, with auto tech students at Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School supervised by instructor Joel DeCoff (on left) completely refurbishing it. When Brittany got a job and her car stopped working, Second Chance Car volunteer budget advisor Ben Kuehn went over the numbers with her and said in his report "Outstanding. Brittany is a planner, a saver, and a nice person. She has worked hard to budget and spends where needed, relies on benefits where she can, and has a good head on her shoulders. She is nice, warm, and wants to do right for her family." Case closed, car delivered--thanks "Team Brittany"! Link to car award video in the Comments!