Wheels of Hope donates car to family in annual program

PALMER – When Jodi Scoggin picked up the phone Thursday afternoon, she wasn’t expecting a message from Alaska Family Services CEO Donn Bennice.

She also wasn’t expecting him to tell her she’d be getting a free Subaru Forester.

“I was in absolute shock,” Scoggin said Friday, after taking her new car for a spin around the block. “I was three feet off the ground for like six hours.”

Growing up and spending her adult life thus far in Alaska, Scoggin had seen the “Wheels of Hope” program advertised in the windows of NAPA stores and elsewhere, but it wasn’t until the last year that she thought — or needed — to apply.

A few years ago, Scoggin was in an accident that left her with two broken legs and major head trauma. After leaving the hospital, she figured that would be the end of it, but life spiraled downward.

“All those years I didn’t realize all the effects of it,” she said.

Eventually, she lost her car and began walking everywhere, with no other means of transportation. Though she was able to begin working with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in Wasilla a month or two ago, she also has four kids to take care of, one of which she had at the time of the accident, when she was 26.

“Being a mom is the most wonderful thing ever,” Scoggin said, but it was hard to keep up, especially without a car.

Bennice said it’s not uncommon for something like a vehicle to make a huge difference in their clients’ ability to obtain and maintain jobs. While AFS and connected agencies see that need, it’s hard for them to fulfill it if they don’t have the resources.

That’s where NAPA comes in.

“That’s the beauty of this partnership,” said store owner Jim Ruda. “We have no idea how to source who’s in need (without AFS).”

Sales manager Andy Rogers nodded.

“They find a family and we can easily get the resources to supply the car and the maintenance,” he said.

The car Scoggin received was a trade-in from an elderly woman who hadn’t driven it much before she swapped it for another vehicle at Magnum Motors in Wasilla. Magnum donated a few repairs, then handed the keys to NAPA to present to the deserving applicant.

Determining that person was the hard part.

Bennice said they had 24 applicants this year — they’ve had as many as 60 in the past — and many were in situations similar to Scoggin’s, walking tens of miles to get to work or school. Alaska Family Services, however, gives preference to individuals and couples with young children, and at the end of the day, they knew who their recipient would be.

This is year four of the Wheels of Hope program, and all three men have been involved from the start. Bennice has always been the one to call the “winners.”

“That’s the fun part,” he said, comparing the calls to the not-so-fun decision of whose life gets changed for the better.

“They’re reaction is always the same,” he said. “They’re overwhelmed. Most of them didn’t think they had a chance (of being chosen).”

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.