OLDSMAR – Things are looking up for the Coopers these days.
The family of five, which has been living a three-bedroom apartment at a Homeless Emergency Project shelter in Clearwater, had been trying to get by without a car since theirs broke down nearly a year ago.
Thanks to a nationwide program that places refurbished cars in the hands of homeless veterans, Jennifer and Leon Cooper will be hauling their three kids to band practice – or wherever – in a beige 2007 Toyota Sienna.
“Oh, my goodness. It’s going to help out greatly,” said Jennifer Cooper, 44, a former Army Reservist, said Wednesday after receiving the minivan.
“We can go places together. We go grocery shopping together. Church. Different things. If we want to go to the beach on the weekend we don’t have to look at a bus schedule.”
The Coopers are one of 60 homeless veteran families throughout the country who were handed the keys to refurbished, registered and insured cars or minivans on Wednesday. Edward Caswell, a 60-year-old Tampa Bay area veteran, also received a car Wednesday.
“They walk away with a free and clear vehicle,” said Lance Edgy, a regional claims manager with Progressive Insurance, the company that spearheaded the project.
The Tampa Bay area recipients picked up their cars at the insurance company’s Oldsmar center. Both vehicles were previously damaged in car crashes, then restored to their original conditions. Progressive paid to put the cars in the hands of military veterans in need, including covering their registration fees. Rental car company Enterprise paid for six months’ worth of insurance.
More coverage of this great cause on tbo.com
