Wheels to Work was founded as a 501(c)3 so that decent donated cars can be transferred directly to people in need instead of being flipped for cash. We are the only nonprofit in northeast Ohio that donates cars to people.
The goal of Wheels to Work is to get the car to a person so that the car can change their life, and move them up the socio economic ladder.
Wheels to Work partners with Re:Source Cleveland, a local nonprofit that works with newcomers to Cleveland. Re:Source Cleveland vets the client, ensures that they are a legal driver (license and insurance), helps them with registration, and stays in contact.
Wheels to Work has been accepting car donations since July of 2021. As of August of 2024, Wheels to Work has completed 20 car donations. Click here to see a picture and a few details of every car donation.
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You Donate
If you would like to proceed with seeing if you can donate your car, please fill out our Car Donation Form (click here). If you need further information, please feel free to contact me at wheelstoworkcleveland@gmail.com
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We Put the Car to Work
Wheels to Work works with Re:Source Cleveland to find the car a home.
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Stay in Touch
Wheels to Work will follow up with pictures and general details when the car is transferred (usually within 2 weeks). Then, we follow up in six weeks to see how everything is going, and we try to follow up in two years.
FAQs
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If you have a car to donate, the first thing to do is to fill out the donation form on the website. If you would like to contact us directly, you can send us an email at wheelstoworkcleveland@gmail.org.
I meet with you at a time and place of your convenience. I need the title, the car, the keys, and the person whose name is on the title to be at the meeting. I transfer the title and fill out a box on form 1098-C. If you would like, we can take pictures. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, but I’m happy to chat.
I then follow up within 30 days with the documentation for your tax deduction if you are able to deduct. Further down the line, I will follow up with pictures and quotes from the car recipient of your donation at six weeks, and then we try to follow up in two years.
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We do not have strict guidelines on who gets the cars. We work directly with the Executive Director of Re:Source Cleveland and his team to try to determine on a case by case basis of who needs the car the most and who can take care of a car.
The demand for donated cars heavily outweighs supply, so we are able to get the cars to people where it can have a phenomenal impact.
Please click here to view a page for a picture and details on every car.
We do not accept requests for cars.
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I spend about $1800 a year on D&O insurance, website fees, and title transfers. I have mostly raised that money through family and friends.
Long term, I would like to try to raise money to pay me 15 bucks an hour to do this.
About Us
In 2018 I bought a car, and I donated my old one to Marcus who calls that donated car “The Game Changer.” You can read his story here.
In Cleveland and for the most part nationwide, nobody donates cars directly to people. They flip the cars for quick cash. A tiny fraction makes it to charity. Those cars go through the auction house, the used car dealership, and predatory lenders, and are then sold at jacked up prices with predatory loans to impoverished people.
I started working on this in 2019, and in 2020 Wheels to Work was incorporated as a 501(c)3 with a board of directors. My mother, Therese Sweeney Drake, filed for charity status and provided a number of supporting services as a lawyer with decades of experience on nonprofit boards. Mary Jo Toumert is retired from a career in HR, and also has extensive nonprofit board experience as a lawyer as well. Noah Toumert works at Re:Source Cleveland and helped offer a connection there. None of this work would be possible without the support of Re:Source Cleveland. Tommy Flynn works in finance and is just a killer guy.
This is a community organization with volunteer labor (I work at Noble Library), which I run pretty much by myself with expert advice from a small board and the partnership with Re:Source, and if you would like to learn more, please feel free to contact me or read our a pdf of our 2023 Annual Report.
Under our model, 100% of a donated car makes it directly to people who need it. It’s that simple, it really is. Donated cars can be so much more than cash. For our drivers, the cars are opportunity in material form. They can lead to a job or a better job farther away, education, and improved overall quality of life, such as enhanced independence and opportunity.
I’m outmatched in marketing by huge corporations with massive budgets, so spread the word!
But I just like gettin people cars My moto has always been “Just One Car.”
Connor Drake (Founder/Executive Director)
“It was a shock because, you know, that was the first car in my life that I owned. It was one of those gifts that I can say has truly changed my life. It was a deeply spiritual moment for me.”
Our Mission
To provide donors, non profits, and persons in need with a car donation service that directly donates working vehicles to people.
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