Changing Lives of the Poor with Donated Cars(1/3)

It is a happy moment for 27-year-old Sean Rock, a radio technician in Baltimore. He is getting a car. "I feel great because it just helps me out with transportation, getting back and forth to work, and with my family chores I need to get done and, you know, taking my son to basketball practices." As a father of three children, Rock says life was rough without a car for the last two years.

Ivan Smith is another Baltimore man who is getting a car. And for the 20-year-old plumber it is his very first. "Now I have a car, I can make a lot more money by doing other side jobs. I can go hang out with my buddies and be happy."

What makes it possible for Rock and Smith to have such confidence is a program called Vehicles for Change. It is a non-profit organization that repairs and provides donated vehicles to low-income families at a minimal price to help them stay employed.

Martin Schwartz is the organization's executive director. He co-founded it in October 1999 with an auto parts distribution company that is no longer in business.