Family Lift program helps at-risk families
Having a car means better standard of living
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

GLORIASTRAVELLI Staffers at Lee's Garage, in West Long Branch, work on a car donated to Monmouth Cares' Family Lift program.

WEST LONG BRANCH - Families struggling to make ends meet and individuals trying to hold down a job have a common need: transportation.

According to a local nonprofit, having a car, especially where public transportation is limited, can make the difference between self-sufficiency and living on welfare for at-risk families and individuals.

"A car can help a family keep a job," said Karen Kircher, community resource specialist for Monmouth Cares, in an interview last week. "A car allows families to take children to appointments."

Family Lift is a MonmouthCares program that accepts donations of used automobiles, has them repaired and then donates them to families who are in need of transportation.

"The Family Lift program at MonmouthCares, a private nonprofit based in West Long Branch, matches donors of used cars with MonmouthCares families struggling to meet significant challenges in their lives, families in dire need of transportation to keep the family stable or reach a higher level of self-sufficiency," project manager Kathy Maude wrote in an e-mail.

Maude explained that the donation of a car can help families in important ways, including:

+ Keep a job, work longer hours and accept shift work;

+ Find a better job located outside of public transportation;

+ Get needed job training or higher education;

+ Take children to medical appointments or counseling;

+ Spend more time with their children; and

+ Become self-sufficient and self-supporting.

Once donated, the cars are taken to local auto shops that have teamed with MonmouthCares to repair the vehicles before delivering them to the families, according to Kircher.

MonmouthCares works with local auto repair shops: Lee's Garage Inc., V&B Auto Repair and Premier Motor Car, and C&M Auto Repair in Long Branch.

"[The auto shops] check it out for us before we give it to one of our families," Kircher said.

Last Friday, mechanics at Lee's on Broadway completed repairs on a 1998 Ford Escort that would go to a MonmouthCares family.

"Transportation is one of the biggest problems that families we work with face that keeps them from getting to the next level in their lives," Kircher said.

MonmouthCares is a private nonprofit that serves 180 Monmouth County families with children who have serious emotional behavioral disorders. It is a care management organization that was established in 2001 as part of the New Jersey Division of Child Behavioral Health Services.

Instead of relying on hospitalization and residential treatment procedures for children with behavioral disorders, MonmouthCares uses community resources to build children's strengths while keeping them in their homes and their schools.

The organization assists families in the areas of education, employment, financial, food and shelter, legal, physical health, psychological, safety, social, spiritual and transportation.

Since MonmouthCares began the Family Lift program, Kircher said, not many auto donations have been made, but this year the nonprofit has been able to give cars to five families.

Donors of the cars are able to file for a tax deduction of fair market value for the vehicle, Kircher said, adding that most agencies require a fee to be paid when a donation is made, reducing the amount of the tax deduction.

"We take no fee," Kircher said, "so donors are able to deduct 100 percent of the fair market value of the car."

MonmouthCares accepts functional cars with fewer than 150,000 miles and the car must have passed its last inspection, Kircher explained.

Kircher cited a statement by the National Conference of State Legislatures about how having a car is key to employment:

"For low-income families, a car can mean the difference between employment and the welfare line, especially if public transportation is limited. Owning a car can remove a lot of barriers."

For information about MonmouthCares or about the Family Lift program, visit the Web site www.Familylift@MonmouthCMO.org or call (732) 222-8008.