A single dad from Sacramento, California was surprised with a free car after a non-profit organization learned that he had been biking 16 miles for work in the last six months.
Isaac Taylor has five daughters and one son and is taking care of his two young daughters full-time.
After they lost their car in an accident, Taylor did not have a choice but to use his bike to travel to work. Every day, he had to go through a 16-mile round trip to keep putting food on the table.
As if his journey was not inconvenient and tiring enough, he even had to walk his children to school after his shift.
“It was early in the morning after working a full graveyard shift, a 10-hour shift. It was very tough,” said Taylor.
Taylor shared that they have been in and out of homelessness for years and this was one of the reasons why he didn’t mind biking long hours to work and earn money.
He experienced living in motels and churches with his young children. “I’ve been through a lot so struggle is just part of getting to the next big thing,” Taylor said.
Eventually, his hard work and positivity were rewarded. The leaders of a non-profit organization called Family Promise found out about Taylor’s story so they nominated him for a vehicle.
It was the same organization that helped Taylor when he was homeless. They helped him secure housing for his family, where they currently live. Now, the foundation is helping them again with a more convenient mode of transport.
Travelers insurance donated the car refurbished at Caliber Collision Roseville while the donation was made possible by the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides Program. This program awards cars to deserving community members like Taylor.
Recently, Taylor and his family were surprised with a free car, a newly restored 2019 Hyundai Elantra, which came with car seats for his children. Taylor couldn’t be happier as he watched his daughter check their new car with so much excitement.
“I’m going to pick her up in this from school today. They’re not even going to recognize me,” said Taylor. He said his six-year-old child would be really happy and excited about their new car.
According to Taylor, he cried like a baby when he saw the car. “Tears of joy. Tears of feeling the pain of riding the bike back and forth. It all set in — what I went through to get to where I’m at now.”
Though he struggles a lot to provide for his family, he still could not believe his luck. “How could I feel like I deserve it? Knowing there are people that go through worse situations than I am in. How did I become so fortunate?” asked Taylor.
Nonetheless, he was very thankful to everyone who made it possible. “It’s a great world we live in, even though there are a lot of bad things that go on.
There are some wonderful people.” Taylor also said that he feels amazing and is living his best life right now.
Thanks to Family Promise which helped him more than once and all the members of his community who joined hands to help make his life better.
On a similar note, a teacher in Los Angeles was also gifted a car by his high school students. Like Taylor, he did not have a car and had to commute to work and go back home for a total of 4 hours.
His students saw his daily struggles and decided to raise funds to get him a new car with the help of a couple of organizations.
Watch how Taylor and his family were surprised with a free car and how excited they were about it: