Michael Parks is a Navy veteran who has had to wake up at some crazy hours to make sure he makes it into work via public transportation every day.
Parks is a cook at a senior living facility and he wakes up at 3 a.m. every morning to take the bus to work because he doesn’t have a car. He told 13 WTHR that most of the time he just sleeps on the 4:40 a.m. bus until he gets to work at 6 a.m.
He’s also a graduate of the Helping Veterans and Families (HVAV) program in which he’s currently living in transitional housing and needing to find an apartment within the next two months. Not having a vehicle, Parks is only able to view apartments as he passes them while riding the bus. Not to mention he needs to find an apartment that has accessibility to public transportation. So it’s been difficult for him to make the next transition of his life without an easier way of getting around.
An HVAF supporter recently donated a car and asked the group to identify a veteran in need. HVAF’s case management team looked through the vets in the program to find who would be the best fit, because in addition to the need, they to be able to support the donation by covering things like gas, insurance, and oil changes. Parks was the perfect fit.
Parks thought he was dreaming when he got the call that he was the one receiving the car. He told 13 WTHR “It was my day off and she woke me up, so I thought it was a dream and I woke up like, ‘Did she say I won a car?'”
